Semantic differential scale advantages and disadvantages

228 Part Four: Measurement Concepts

Chapter Fourteen: Attitude Measurement 229

Chapter 14
Attitude Measurement
AT-A-GLANCE

Zikmund, W., Babin, B. J., Carr, J., & Griffin, M. (2013). Business research methods (9th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

I. Attitudes as Hypothetical Constructs

A. Importance of measuring attitudes

II. Techniques for Measuring Attitudes

III. Attitude Rating Scales

A. Simple attitude scales

B. Category scales

C. Method of Summated Ratings: The Likert scale

· Reverse recoding

· Composite scales

D. Semantic Differential

E. Numerical scales

F. Stapel scale

G. Constant-sum scale

H. Graphic rating scales

I. Thurstone interval scale

IV. Measuring Behavioral Intention

A. Behavioral differential

V. Ranking

A. Paired comparisons

B. Sorting

VI. Other Methods of Attitude Measurement

VII. Selecting a Measurement Scale: Some Practical Decisions

A. Ranking, sorting, rating, or choice technique?

B. Monadic or comparative scale?

C. What type of category labels, if any?

D. How many scale categories or response positions?

E. Balanced or unbalanced rating scale?

F. Even or odd number of scale points?

G. Use a scale that forces a choice among predetermined options?

H. Single measure or an index measure?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Describe how business researchers think of attitudes

2. Identify basic approaches to measuring attitudes

3. Discuss the use of rating scales for measuring attitudes

4. Represent a latent construct by constructing a summated scale

5. Summarize ways to measure attitudes with ranking and sorting techniques

6. Discuss major issues involved in the selection of a measurement scale.

CHAPTER VIGNETTE: Heat and Smoke—What Keeps Them Happy?

The history of steel factories and the challenges of the furnace workers is well documented. Despite the great advances in technology and an ever-increasing focus on safety, furnace workers still face dangerous work environments filled with heat and smoke. A team of researchers was asked to do an assessment of furnace employee attitudes, with the goal of identifying what aspects of their work environment contributed to their overall satisfaction. Using a survey questionnaire, a series of statements related to the company’s benefits, supervisory relationships, and general work-related conditions was developed. While safety and health benefits were important, it was positive and supportive relationship with their immediate supervisor that really made the difference on their satisfaction. Managers can focus on hiring and training supervisors who are oriented towards positively supporting their employees.

SURVEY THIS!

One popular way to assess respondent attitudes is to use a multiattribute model. Students are asked to compute respondents’ attitudes toward working in a business career (i.e., each of the business disciplines).

RESEARCH SNAPSHOTS

· Is It Positive Emotionality, or is it LOVE?

Love is a four letter word, and it is a hypothetical construct, which is a term psychologists use to describe or explain consistent patterns of human behavior. Love, hate, thirst, learning, and intelligence are all examples of hypothetical constructs. They are hypothetical in that they do not exist as physical entities; therefore, they cannot be seen, heard, felt, or measured directly.

· Students Ask—Are You Responsible?

Businesses today face an increasing need to be perceived as having in interest in social responsibility. Results of a survey of 1,554 college students indicate that 41 percent consciously prefer products and services from companies they perceive as having a social role (e.g., Toyota, Burt’s Bees). The implication for business leaders is that perceptions of the company itself, and not just its products, drive purchasing decision among this important demographic.

· Measuring Website Usability

How good is a website? Usability is an important factor, and there are a variety of ways to assess website usability. Subjective evaluations can be effective, and one study compared five different questionnaires developed to assess the respondents’ perceptions of the usability of sites. The results indicate that the different approaches appear to be quite consistent in their ability to assess website usability. Thus, it appears that multiple approaches can come to the same conclusion.

· How Much Is a Healthy Home Worth?

Homebuilders need to know which features are extremely valued by consumers, which are nice but not important, and which are difficult to trade off. A group of researchers at the University of British Columbia measured attitudes toward features of “healthy houses,” and they compared the scores with a Thurstone scale. A healthy house is one built with materials and a design affording superior indoor air quality, lighting, and acoustics. A survey asked consumers if they would be willing to pay extra for these attributes that were presented in every combination of pairs. Respondents had to choose which item in each pair they considered more important, which generated a ranking that the researchers used to create a Thurstone scale. Energy efficiency was ranked highest followed by natural light, thicker insulation, antiallergic materials, and airtightness. Artificial light falls noticeably below the other features.

OUTLINE

I. ATTITUDES AS HYPOTHETICAL CONSTRUCTS

· An attitude is an enduring disposition to respond consistently in a given manner to various aspects of the world, including persons, events, and objects.

· There are three components of attitude:

· Affective component – refers to an individual’s general feelings or emotions toward an object.

· Cognitive component – represents an individual’s awareness of and knowledge about an object.

· Behavioral component – reflects a predisposition to action by reflecting a consumer’s buying or purchase intentions.

· Attitudes as Hypothetical Constructs

· Business researchers often pose questions involving psychological variables that cannot directly be observed.

· Unobserved or latent variables are known as hypothetical constructs or just constructs.

· Common constructs include job satisfaction, organizational commitment, personal feelings, role stress, and so on.

· Importance of Measuring Attitudes

· Most managers hold the intuitive belief that changing consumers’ or employees’ attitudes is a major goal.

· Because modifying attitudes plays a pervasive role in business strategies, the measurement of attitudes is an important task.

II. TECHNIQUES FOR MEASURING ATTITUDES

· A remarkable variety of techniques has been devised to measure attitudes, stemming in part from lack of consensus about the exact definition of the concept.

· In addition, the affective, cognitive, and behavioral components of an attitude may be measured by different means.

· These techniques range from direct to indirect, physiological to verbal, etc.

· Obtaining verbal statements from respondents generally requires that the respondent perform a task such as ranking, rating, sorting, or making choices.

· Ranking tasks require the respondent to rank order a small number of objects in overall preference on the basis of some characteristic or stimulus.

· Rating asks the respondent to estimate the magnitude or the extent to which some characteristic exists.

· Sorting might present the respondent with several product concepts printed on cards and require the respondent to classify the concepts by placing the cards into groups.

· Choice between two or more alternatives is another type of attitude measurement—it is assumed that the chosen object is preferred over the other(s).

III. ATTITUDE RATING SCALES

· Perhaps the most common practice in business research is using rating scales to measure attitudes, and this section discusses many rating scales designed to enable respondents to report the intensity of their attitudes.

· Simple Attitude Scales

· In its most basic form, attitude scaling requires that an individual agree or disagree with a statement or respond to a single question.

· This type of self-rating scale merely classifies respondents into one of two categories; thus, it has only the properties of a nominal scale.

· However, such scales are used if questionnaires are extremely long, when respondents have little education, or for other specific reasons.

· A number of simplified scales are merely checklists: A respondent indicates past experience, preference, and the like merely by checking an item.

· In many cases the items are adjectives that describe a particular object.

· Most attitude theorists believe that attitudes vary along continua, and the purpose of an attitude scale is to find out an individual’s position on the continuum.

· These simple scales do not allow for making fine distinctions between attitudes, but several other scales have been developed that do provide more precise measurements.

· Category Scales

· The simplest rating scale contains only two response categories, such as yes/no or agree/disagree.

· Expanding the categories provides the respondent with more flexibility in the rating task.

· Even more information is provided if the categories are ordered according to a particular descriptive or evaluative dimension.

· A category scale is a more sensitive measure than a scale that has only two response categories—it provides more information.

· Question wording is an extremely important factor in the usefulness of these scales.

· Exhibit 14.1 shows some common wordings for category scales.

· Method of Summated Ratings: The Likert Scale

· The Likert scale is an extremely popular means for measuring attitudes.

· With the Likert scale, respondents indicate their attitudes by checking how strongly they agree or disagree with carefully constructed statements, ranging from very positive to very negative attitudes toward some object.

· Individuals generally choose from approximately five (although alternatives may range from three to nine) response alternatives: “strongly agree,” “agree,” “uncertain,” “disagree,” and “strongly disagree.”

· Researchers assign scores, or weights, to each possible response (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 assigned to each level of agreement).

· Reverse Recoding

· If a statement is framed negatively, the numerical scores would need to be reversed.

· This is done by reverse coding the negative item so that a strong agreement really indicates an unfavorable response rather than a favorable attitude.

· In the case of a 5-point scale, recoding would make the value 1 equal to a new value of 5, 2 equal to 4, 3 equal to 3, 4 equal to 2, and 5 equal to 1.

· SPSS has a recode function.

· Alternatively, for a 5-point scale, a simple mathematical formula can be entered:

· Xnew value = 6 – Xold value

· Composite Scales

· A Likert scale may include several scale items to form a composite scale.

· Each statement is assumed to represent an aspect of a common attitudinal domain.

· The total score is the summation of the numerical scores assigned to an individual’s responses.

· In Likert’s original procedure, a large number of statements are generated, and an item analysis is performed to eliminate those that are poor because they lack clarity or elicit mixed response patterns.

· Scales that use multiple items can be analyzed for reliability and validity.

· Semantic Differential

· The semantic differential is actually a series of attitude scales.

· This popular attitude measurement technique consists of getting respondents to react to some concept using a series of 7-point bipolar rating scales.

· Bipolar adjectives—such as “good” and “bad,” “modern” and “old-fashioned,” or “clean” and “dirty”—anchor both ends (or poles) of the scale.

· The subject makes repeated judgments of the concept under investigation on each of the scales.

· Business researchers have found the semantic differential versatile and useful in business applications.

· The validity of the semantic differential depends on finding scale anchors that are semantic opposites, which can sometimes prove difficult.

· For scoring purposes, a numerical score is assigned to each position on the rating scale (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3).

· Many find it useful to assume that the semantic differential provides interval data, but critics argue that the data have only ordinal properties because the numerical scores are arbitrary.

· Practically, business researchers treat them as metric (at least interval) because the amount of error introduced by assuming the intervals between choices are equal is fairly small.

· Exhibit 14.4 illustrates a typical image profile based on semantic differential data.

· Numerical Scales

· In numerical scales, numbers, rather than semantic space or verbal descriptions, serve as the response options to identify categories (response positions).

· If the scale items have five response positions, the scale is called a five-point numerical scale, six options is called a six-point scale, etc.

· The numerical scale utilizes bipolar adjectives in the same manner as the semantic differential.

· Stapel Scale

· The Stapel scale was originally developed in the 1950s to measure simultaneously the direction and intensity of an attitude.

· Modern versions of the scale, with a single adjective, are used as a substitute for the semantic differential when it is difficult to create pairs of bipolar adjectives.

· The modified scale places a single adjective in the center of an even number of numerical values (ranging, perhaps, from +3 to -3).

· The scale measures how close to or distant from the adjective a given stimulus is perceived to be.

· The advantages/disadvantages are similar to those of the semantic differential, but the Stapel scale is easier to administer, especially over the telephone.

· Constant-Sum Scale

· With a constant-sum scale, respondents are asked to divide a fixed number of points (e.g., 100) among several attributes to indicate their relative importance.

· Works best with respondents who have high educational levels.

· If respondents follow the instructions correctly, the results will approximate interval measures.

· As the number of stimuli increase, this technique becomes more complex.

· Although widely used, strictly speaking, the scale is flawed because the last response is completely determined by the way the respondent has scored the other choices.

· Graphic Rating Scales

· A graphic rating scale presents respondents with a graphic continuum.

· Respondents are allowed to choose any point on the continuum to indicate their attitude.

· Typically, a respondent’s score is determined by measuring the length (in millimeters) from one end of the continuum to the point marked by the respondent.

· Alternatively, the researcher may divide the line into predetermined scoring categories (lengths) and record respondents’ marks accordingly.

· The graphic scale has the advantage of allowing the researcher to choose any interval desired for purposes of scoring.

· The disadvantage of the graphic scale is that there are no standard answers.

· A variation on the graphic scale design is the scale ladder; this and other picture response options enhance communication with respondents.

· Thurstone Interval Scale

· The construction of the Thurstone scale is a fairly complex process that requires two stages.

· The first stage is a ranking operation, performed by judges who assign scale values to attitudinal statements.

· The second stage consists of asking subjects to respond to the attitudinal statements.

· This method is time consuming and costly and is rarely used in applied business research.

IV. MEASURING BEHAVIORAL INTENTION

· The behavioral component of an attitude involves the behavioral expectations of an individual toward an attitudinal object.

· The component of interest to researchers may be turnover intentions, a tendency to make business decisions in a certain way, or plans to expand operations or product offerings.

· The wording of statements used in these cases often includes phrases such as “I would recommend,” “I would write,” or “I would buy,” to indicate action tendencies.

· Behavioral Differential

· The behavioral differential instrument is used for measuring the behavioral intentions of subjects towards any object or category of objects.

· A description of the object to be judged is followed by a series of scales on which subjects indicate their behavioral intentions toward this object.

V. RANKING

· Consumers often rank order their preferences.

· An ordinal scale may be developed by asking respondents to rank order (from most preferred to least preferred) a set of objects or attributes.

· This task is easily understood by respondents.

· Like the constant sum scale, technically the ranking scale also suffers from inflexibility in that if we know how someone ranked five out of six alternatives, we know the answer to the sixth.

· Paired Comparisons

· In paired comparisons the respondents are presented with two objects at a time and asked to pick the one they prefer.

· Ranking objects with respect to one attribute is not difficult if only a few products are compared, but as the number of items increases, the number of comparisons increases geometrically [(n)(n - 1)/2].

· If the number of comparisons is too large, respondents may fatigue and no longer carefully discriminate among them.

· Sorting

· Sorting tasks require that respondents indicate their attitudes or beliefs by arranging items on the basis of perceived similarity or some other attribute.

· A variation of the constant-sum technique uses physical counters (e.g., poker chips or coins) to be divided among the items being tested.

VI. OTHER METHODS OF ATTITUDE MEASUREMENT

· Attitudes, as hypothetical constructs, cannot be observed directly, but they can be inferred by the way one responds to multiple attitude indicators.

· A summated rating scale can be made up of three indicators of attitude (e.g., very good/very bad, very unfavorable/very favorable, very positive/very negative).

· The terminology is such that now attitude would be represented as a latent (unobservable) construct indicated by a consumer’s response to these items.

VII. SELECTING A MEASUREMENT SCALE: SOME PRACTICAL DECISIONS

· There is no best scale that applies to all research projects.

· The choice of scale will be a function of the nature of the attitudinal object to be measured, the manager’s problem definition, and the backward and forward linkages to other choices that have already been made (e.g., telephone survey versus mail survey).

· There are several issues that will be helpful to consider:

1. Is a ranking, sorting, rating, or choice technique best?

2. Should a monadic or a comparative scale be used?

3. What type of category labels, if any, will be used for the rating scale?

4. How many scale categories or response positions are needed to accurately measure an attitude?

5. Should a balanced or unbalance rating scale be chosen?

6. Should an even or odd number of response categories be provided?

7. Should a scale that forces a choice among predetermined options be used?

8. Should a single measure or an index measure be used?

· Ranking, Sorting, Rating, or Choice Technique?

· The answer to this question is determined largely by the problem definition and especially by the type of statistical analysis that is desired.

· Monadic or Comparative Scale?

· If a scale is other than a ratio scale, the researcher must decide whether to include a standard of comparison in the verbal portion of the scale.

· A monadic rating scale uses no such comparison; it asks a respondent to rate a single concept in isolation.

· A comparative rating scale asks a respondent to rate a concept in comparison with a benchmark—perhaps another similar concept, such as a competing brand—explicitly used as a frame of reference.

· In many cases, the comparative rating scale presents an ideal situation as a reference point for comparison with the actual situation.

· What Type of Category Labels, if Any?

· We have discussed verbal labels, numerical labels, and unlisted choices.

· The maturity and educational levels of the respondents will influence this decision.

· Unlabeled response categories often are selected because the researcher wishes to assume interval-scale data.

· How Many Scale Categories or Response Positions?

· This issue is basically a matter of sensitivity, but at the operational rather than the conceptual level.

· Balanced or Unbalanced Rating Scale?

· The fixed-alternative format may be balanced or unbalanced.

· A balanced rating scale has a neutral point, or point of indifference, at the center of the scale.

· Unbalanced rating scales may be used when the responses are expected to be distributed at one end of the scale; an unbalanced scale may eliminate this type of “end piling.”

· Choice generally depends on the nature of the concept or the researcher’s knowledge about attitudes toward the stimulus to be measured.

· Even or Odd Number of Scale Points?

· Should there be a “neutral” point in the scale?

· If the researcher feels that respondents can truly hold a neutral attitude, an odd number of scale points is appropriate.

· If issues tend to evoke strong opinions, these are likely better captured by an even number of scale points where a respondent is forced to come down on one side of the issue.

· Use a Scale That Forces a Choice Among Predetermined Options?

· In many situations, a respondent has not formed an attitude towards a concept and simply cannot provide an answer.

· If a forced-choice rating scale compels the respondent to answer, the response is merely a function of the question.

· If answers are not forced, the midpoint of the scale may be used by the respondent to indicate unawareness as well as indifference.

· If many respondents are expected to be unaware of the attitudinal object, this problem may be eliminated by using a non-forced-choice scale that provides a “no opinion” category.

· The argument for forced choice is that people really do have attitudes, even if they are unfamiliar with the objects and should be required to answer the question.

· Still, the use of forced-choice questions is associated with higher incidences of item non-response (no answer).

· Single Measure or an Index Measure?

· Depends on:

· the complexity of the issue to be investigated

· the number of dimensions the issue contains

· whether individual attributes of the stimulus are part of a holistic attitude or are seen as separate items.

· The researcher’s conceptual definition will be helpful in making this choice.

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND CRITICAL THINKING/ANSWERS

1. What is an attitude? Is there a consensus concerning its definition?

For social scientists, an attitude as an enduring disposition to consistently respond in a given manner to various aspects of the world, including persons, events, and objects. It is generally believed that attitudes have three components: affective, cognitive, and behavioral. The affective component refers to an individual’s general feelings or emotions toward an object and reflects the emotional character of attitudes. The cognitive component represents an individual’s awareness of and knowledge about an object. The behavioral component reflects a predisposition to action by reflecting a consumer’s buying or purchase intentions.

Many variables that researchers wish to investigate are psychological variables that cannot be observed directly (i.e., attitudes). To measure an attitude, we make an inference based on the way a person responds to multiple individual scale items. Unobserved or latent variables are known as hypothetical constructs or just constructs. A remarkable variety of techniques has been devised to measure attitudes, stemming in part from lack of consensus about the exact definition of the concept. In addition, the affective, cognitive, and behavioral components may be measured by different means.

2. Distinguish between rating and ranking. Which is a better attitude measurement technique? Why?

Rating asks the respondent to estimate the magnitude or the extent to which some characteristic exists. A quantitative score results. The rating task involves marking a response indicating one’s position using one or more attitudinal or cognitive scales. A ranking task requires the respondent to rank order a small number of items on the basis of overall preference or some characteristic of the stimulus. No one measure is better than the other, and it depends on the objectives of the research.

3. Assume the researcher wanted to create a summated scale indicating a respondent’s attitude toward the trucking industry. What would the result be for the respondent whose response is as indicated below?

A summated scale is merely the sum of the responses to the questions, which would be 43 in this question.

4. How would you perform reverse recoding using statistical software like SAS or SPSS?

One of the Research Snapshots from Chapter 13 listed the steps in SPSS necessary to reverse recode items. This function in SPSS allows simple recoding to be done by entering ‘old’ and ‘new’ scale values. Alternatively, a simple mathematical formula can be entered. In the case of a 5-point scale, the formula is: Xnew value = 6 – Xold value

5. What advantages do numerical scales have over semantic differential scales?

Numerical scales and semantic differential scales are very similar, especially when they have bipolar adjectives at each end. The major advantage a numerical scale has over a semantic differential is that the researcher may feel more comfortable about the interval scale nature of the data because of the numerical response options. However, there is no strong evidence to indicate that the numerical scale has the property of a ratio scale.

6. Identify the issues a researcher should consider when choosing a measurement scale.

There are several issues that will be helpful to consider:

1. Is a ranking, sorting, rating, or choice technique best?

2. Should a monadic or a comparative scale be used?

3. What type of category labels, if any, will be used for the rating scale?

4. How many scale categories or response positions are needed to accurately measure an attitude?

5. Should a balanced or unbalance rating scale be chosen?

6. Should an even or odd number of response categories be provided?

7. Should a scale that forces a choice among predetermined options be used?

8. Should a single measure or an index measure be used?

Each of these issues is discussed in the chapter. A summary of these issues appears in the lecture outline for this chapter.

7. Should a Likert scale ever be treated as though it had ordinal properties?

Some would argue that that is the highest level of this type of scale. However, in practice there is the assumption that Likert scales have interval properties. The reason is that some research has indicated that violation of this assumption does not produce large differences in answers of research projects. Presumably those who are not disturbed when this assumption is violated can live with the small error caused by scaling.

8. In each of the following identify what type of scale and evaluate it:

a. A U.S. representative’s questionnaire sent to constituents:

Do you favor or oppose the Fair Tax Proposal?

In Favor Opposed No Opinion

( ( (

This is a simple rating scale with two categories. However, it is a non-forced choice scale that provides a “no opinion” category.

How favorable are you toward the Fair Tax Proposal?

Very Unfavorable ( ( ( ( ( ( Very Favorable

This is a semantic differential item. The semantic differential is actually a series of attitude scales. Many researchers find it desirable to assume that it provides interval data, which is considered acceptable because the amount of error introduced by assuming the intervals between choices are equal is fairly small.

b. I believe the Fair Tax Proposal will reduce the federal deficit.

Strongly Strongly

Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Agree

1 2 3 4 5

This is a Likert scale item. Typically, a Likert scale includes several scale items to form a composite scale. In Likert’s original procedure, a large number of statements is generated and assessed for reliability and validity.

9. What is the difference a measured variable and a latent construct?

Many variables that researchers wish to investigate are psychological variables that cannot be observed (i.e., measured) directly. Unobserved or latent variables are known as hypothetical constructs or just constructs. Attitude is an example, and we make inferences based on the way a person responds to multiple individual scale items.

10. If a Likert summative scale has 10 scale items, do all 10 have to be phrased as either positive or negative statements, or can the scale contain a mix of positive and negative statements, or can the scale contain a mix of positive and negative statements?

Students frequently ask this question. They confuse the notion of coding in a consistent direction with designing scale items that elicit valid and reliable responses. Having all positive statements may hint to the respondent that the researcher is interested in investigating a particular position (whether or not this is true). Also, having both positive and negative statements requires that the respondent think about each statement rather than merely checking off one side of the scale for every item. An ideal scale would have two versions of each statement (positive and negative) for split halves of the sample.

11. If a semantic differential scale has 10 scale items, should all the positive adjectives be on the right and all the negative adjectives on the left?

This question is also one students often ask. They confuse the notion of coding all items in the same direction, perhaps seven for positive items, one for negative items, with the notion of designing a scale in which respondents carefully consider each item and answer after thinking about each item. Alternating or scattering of positive and negative items on the right or left side of the paper prevents respondents from just casually checking all answers on one side of a scale.

12. [Ethics Question] A researcher thinks many respondents will answer “don’t know” or “can’t say” if these options are printed on an attitude scale along with categories indicating agreement. The researcher does not print either “don’t know” or “can’t say” on the questionnaire because the resulting data will be more complicated to analyze and report. Is this proper?

This is a common tactic in research. The researcher’s objective is to discourage “don’t know” answers. Most researchers will, however, record don’t know responses if they are handwritten on the questionnaire. As long as there is no intent to bias answers or to avoid reporting honest responses, this activity is a proper act. However, the use of forced-choice questions is associated with higher incidences of “no answer.”

13. [Internet Activity] Strategic Business Insights investigates U.S. consumers by asking questions about their attitudes and values. It has a website so people can VALS-type themselves. To find out your VALS type, go to http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/presurvey.shtml .

The VALS classification has 8 groups: Innovators, Thinkers, Believers, Achievers, Strivers, Experiencers, Makers, and Survivors. You may recall different names for a few of the categories. “Innovators” used to be labeled “Actualizers,” “Thinkers” used to be called “Fulfillers,” and “Survivors” were formerly labeled “Strugglers.” Additionally, the horizontal dimension was labeled slightly differently. For example, the horizontal dimension was said to represent three different self-orientations: (1) principle-oriented consumers (i.e., guided by their views of how the world should be), (2) status-oriented consumers (i.e., influenced by the opinions and actions of others), and (3) action-oriented consumers (i.e., directed by a desire for physical or social activity, risk taking, and variety).

RESEARCH ACTIVITY

1. A researcher wishes to compare two hotels on the following attributes:

Convenience of location

Friendly personnel

Value for the money

a. Design a Likert scale to accomplish this task.

The Hilton Hotel has a convenient location.

Strongly Moderately Neither Agree Moderately Strongly

agree agree nor disagree disagree disagree

5 4 3 2 1

The Hilton employees are friendly.

Strongly Moderately Neither Agree Moderately Strongly

agree agree nor disagree disagree disagree

5 4 3 2 1

The Hilton Hotel is a good value for the money.

Strongly Moderately Neither Agree Moderately Strongly

agree agree nor disagree disagree disagree

5 4 3 2 1

Another set of Likert items would be used to measure attitudes toward a second hotel.

b. Design a semantic differential to accomplish this task.

I think that Hilton Hotels have:

A convenient An inconvenient

location ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ location

Friendly Unfriendly

personnel ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ personnel

Poor Good

Value ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ value

This would be repeated for another hotel.

c. Design a graphic rating scale to accomplish this task.

I think that Hilton Hotels have:

A convenient An inconvenient

location ___________________________________ location

Friendly Unfriendly

personnel __________________________________ personnel

Poor Good

value _______________________________________ value

This would be repeated for another hotel.

CASE 14.1 ROEDER-JOHNSON CORPORATION

Objective: To get students thinking about how the types of questions asked and the means through which they are asked can influence results.

Summary: Entrepreneurs start companies every year, and they make their case to the investment community. Is high-tech still important? Public relations firm Roeder-Johnson Corporation, which specializes in start-up companies and those involved in technology innovation, conducted an online survey into the attitudes of 70 subjects, including venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, journalists, and company analysts. In addition to asking respondents for reasons why technology is important to start-ups and inviting comments from the respondents, the central question was:

Do you believe that unique technology is crucial to the success of start-up companies today?

1. Rarely

2. Occasionally

3. Frequently

4. Usually

5. Always

Ninety-one percent considered technology to be important at least frequently (i.e., 39% frequently, 39% usually, and 13% always).

Questions

1. Evaluate the rating scale used for the question in this survey. Is it balanced? Are the category labels clear? Is the number of categories appropriate?

This category scale is a more sensitive measure than a scale that has only two response categories. By having more choices, the potential exists to provide more information. A balanced scale has a neutral point, or point of indifference, at the center of the scale. This one does not, so it is an unbalanced scale. The category labels are clear, and the number of categories seem appropriate.

2. Suggest three ways that Roeder-Johnson could improve this survey without a major cost increase.

Some suggestions are to use more and/or different types of questions, administer the survey through another medium other than the Internet, and provide incentives to respondents. The results that these respondents felt that technology is important are not surprising as they answered this survey through technology.

3. Based on the information given here, what do you think the research objectives for this survey might have been? Do you think the survey met its objectives? Explain.

Students’ responses will vary, but one possible objective for this survey might have been to document that high-tech is still important to interested parties (e.g., entrepreneurs, venture capitalists). If the objective was to document the importance of high-tech, then the results seem to indicate that this objective was met as over 90 percent of respondents indicated technology to be important at least frequently.

CASE 14.2 ATTITUDES TOWARD TECHNOLOGY AND LIFESTYLE

Objective: This case is designed to help students understand psychographics and how to construct an index measure.

Summary: A consumer panel wanted to measure its members’ attitudes toward technology. A research company sent attitude scales to members of its consumer panel. (see Exhibit 14.3-1). Other questions on the questionnaire were about ownership and/or use of computers, consumer electronic devices, satellite TV ownership, cellular phones, and Internet activity.

Questions

1. What type of attitude scale appears in the case study?

The scale is a numeric scale, which is a variation of the semantic differential. A pure semantic differential would have bipolar opposites such as hot and cold. Many business research studies modify the basic pure type scales.

2. Evaluate the list of statements. Do the statements appear to measure a single concept?

No. Take for example these three items:

Technology is important to me.

I am very competitive when it comes to my career.

Having fun is the whole point of life.

These seem to have little in relation to each other. As question 3 illustrates the scale measures technology and several other psychographic factors.

3. What do they appear to be measuring?

There seem to be 4 separate constructs—each measured by several items.

Technology
Technology is important to me.

I like to spend time learning about new technology products.

I am very likely to purchase new technology products or services.

Career
I put a lot of time and energy into my career.

I am very competitive when it comes to my career.

Making a lot of money is important to me.

Leisure
Having fun is the whole point of life.

I am constantly looking for new ways to entertain myself.

I spend most of my free time working on improving myself.

Family and Social Relations

Family is important, but I have other interests that are just as important to me.

My family is by far the most important thing in my life.

I spend most of my free time doing fun stuff with my friends.

I like to impress people with my lifestyle.
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© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.