Measurement Questions and Scales
This market study will evaluate consumer perception among four brands of bicycles. The aspects of the study will include styling, durability, gear quality and brand image. The study seeks to compare customer perception of the four brands concerning the four aspects of the study. Therefore, studying each aspect will involve developing a research question and determining the appropriate levels of data measurements appropriate for each research question.
- Styling
In the styling research, the measurement question would ask customers to rate the styling used in each of the four brands of bicycles on a scale of 1 to 10. The appropriate level of measurement of this aspect of the product is the ordinal level. This measurement level shows how the measured variables relate to each other in an ordered manner (Dalati, 2018). Through this data level, the researcher will compare the customer rating of the styling in each of the four bicycle brands under study. As such, the ordinal level of measurement will provide a platform for brand comparison in respect to customer perception on styling and determine the most styled and the least styled of the four brands of bicycles under study.
- Durability
When studying the durability of the bicycle, the measurement question will ask the customers to give the number of years that each brand of the bicycle can serve them. The customers will respond by providing the number of years they think each brand of the bicycle can serve them. The most appropriate measurement level for this aspect is the interval measurement level. The interval measurement level achieves two objectives. First, this level of measurement orders and specifies the measurement (Beatty, 2018). Concerning the measurement question identified above, it will be able to show the exact years that each bicycle is perceived to serve the customers. Secondly, it will give a specific interval between the measurements (Beatty, 2018). For instance, the interval between 1 year and two years is the same as the time interval between two years and three years. This consistency in the interval is essential in comparing durability among the four brands of Bicycles.
- Gear quality
In studying the gear quality, the measurement question will ask the participants to rate the percentage of the quality of gear from 0% to 100%. As such, the customers will provide the percentage of satisfaction they feel that they derive from the quality of gears in each brand of the bicycle. The most appropriate level of measurement for this aspect of the brand is ratio measurement level have both equal measurement intervals as well as a zero starting point (Kim, Wang & Kiefer, 2017). Concerning the aspect of quality, the research will have an opportunity to evaluate the quality of the gears from the point of zero quality as perceived by the customers. Moreover, the interval between the points on the percentage scale has the same value.
- Brand Image.
The measurement question in studying the brand image in the four brands of bicycles will require the responded to the question requiring the customers to rate the brands as either worse, bad, good or best. Each of the four brands of bicycles will be rated by placing it under any of the four matrixes. The most appropriate measurement level for this type of data is the nominal measurement level. The measurement level allows the use of words in the classification of data (Dalati, 2018). Therefore, the researcher can use the words identified above to classify the data on customer perception about the branding of each of the four bicycle brands.
References
Beatty, W. (2018). Four Levels (Scales) of Data Measurement. Springer Briefs in Statistics Decision Support Using Nonparametric Statistics, 17-22.
Dalati, S. (2018). The Case of MATRE Questionnaire for Academics: Measurement Scales, Lessons, and Questions Reformulation. Progress in IS Modernizing the Academic Teaching and Research Environment, 1(4), 193-208.
Kim, E. S., Wang, Y., & Kiefer, S. M. (2017). Cross-Level Group Measurement Invariance When Groups Are at Different Levels of Multilevel Data. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 3(5), 001316441773906.