Quantitative research in public management session 3

Le 16Ratio Scales Interval Scale Characteristics Absolute Zero... Number of Scale PointsA little bad Neither good nor bad A little good Somewhat good How good a song is ABC?... Rater Err

Session 3 – Part 1

Measurement

S c h o o l o f B u s i n e s s

I N T E R N AT I O N A L U N I V E R S I T Y - V I E T N A M N AT I O N A L U N I V E R S I T Y H C M C

•Common properties being measured :

• Psychological / Life style

• Attitude / belief / value / preferences

• Intention: purchase, not purchase, etc.

• Motive: need, want, motivation, etc.

Measurement and Scale

•Measuring = assigning numbers to properties/ attributes of objects/ events according to given rules.

•Numbers = symbols to represent the property in the empirical system

•The nature of the relationship existing in the empirical system determines types of numerical manipulations

Generals

Tri D Le 4

Researcher’s “two worlds”

Learning motivation

Learning performance

Exam grade Understand contents Knowledge acquired

Eager to attend class

ep

t

Con str u

ct

Var iabl e

Ope rat

ona

l

Def nit on

Review of Terms

Tri D Le 6

Measurement

Select measurable phenomena

Develop a set of mapping rules

Apply the mapping rule

to each phenomenon

Characteristics of Measurement

Tri D Le 8

Types of Scales

Ordinal

Interval Nominal

Rato

Levels of Measurement

Ordinal

interval

Order

Order

Tri D Le 16

Ratio Scales

Interval Scale Characteristics

Absolute Zero

Examples of Data Scales

Tri D Le 18

Summary of scales

Sources of Error

Respondent

Instrument Measurer

Situaton

•Systematic error occurs in all observations; caused by method bias (tools) or social desirability responses (respondents)

•Random error occurs randomly in a number of observations.

Se = Systematic error Re = Random error

Measurement errors

Om = Ts + Se + Re

Validity: The extent to which the measure avoids both systematic and random errors.

 Validity: “truthfulness”

 Are we measuring what we intend to measure ?

Reliability: The extent to which the measurement avoids random error.

 Reliability: consistency, stability, accuracy

Validity and Reliability

Tri D Le 22

Understanding Validity and Reliability

Evaluating Measurement Tools

Criteria

Validity

Tri D Le 24

Validity Determinants

Content

Construct Criterion

Summary of Validity Estimates

Summary of Reliability Estimates

Tri D Le 28

Practicality

Session 3 – Part 2

Measurement and Scales

S c h o o l o f B u s i n e s s

I N T E R N AT I O N A L U N I V E R S I T Y - V I E T N A M N AT I O N A L U N I V E R S I T Y H C M C

The Scaling

Process

Nature of Attitudes

Cognitve I think oatmeal is healthier

than corn flakes for breakfast.

Affectve

Behavioral

I hate corn flakes.

I intend to eat more oatmeal

for breakfast.

Tri D Le 32

Number of Dimensions

Unidimensional

Mult-dimensional

How good a song is ABC?

Neither good nor bad Good

Very good

No opinion Don’t know

How good a song is ABC?

Number of Scale Points

A little bad Neither good nor bad

A little good Somewhat good

How good a song is ABC?

36

Rater Errors

Error of central tendency

Error of leniency

• Adjust strength of descriptive adjectives

• Space intermediate descriptive phrases farther apart

• Provide smaller differences in meaning between terms near the ends of the scale

• Use more scale points

Simple Category Scale

I plan to purchase a MindWriter laptop in the next 12 months.

 Yes

Tri D Le 40

Multiple-Choice, Single-Response Scale

What newspaper do you read most often for financial news?

 East City Gazette

 West City Tribune

 Regional newspaper

 National newspaper

 Other (specify: _)

Multiple-Choice, Multiple-Response Scale

Check any of the sources you

consulted when designing your new

Semantic Differential

Tri D Le 44

Adapting SD Scales

Graphic of SD

Analysis

Tri D Le 46

Numerical Scale

Multiple Rating List Scales

“Please indicate how important or unimportant each service characteristic is:”

Service at my location 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Maintenance by manufacturer 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Notification of upgrades 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Service contract after warranty 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Tri D Le 48

Constant-Sum Scales

Graphic Rating Scales

Paired-Comparison Scale

Tri D Le 52

Forced Ranking Scale

Comparative Scale

Session 3 – Part 3

Questionnaires and Instruments

S c h o o l o f B u s i n e s s

I N T E R N AT I O N A L U N I V E R S I T Y - V I E T N A M N AT I O N A L U N I V E R S I T Y H C M C

Overall Flowchart for Instrument Design

Tri D Le 56

Flowchart for Instrument Design Phase 1

Strategic Concerns in Instrument Design

What type of scale is needed?

What communicaton approach will be used?

Should the questons be structured?

Tri D Le 58

Technology Affects Questionnaire Development

Write questionnaires more

quickly

Create visually driven

instruments

Eliminate manual data entry

Save time in data analysis

Disguising Study Objectives

Situations where disguise is unnecessary

Situations where disguise is unnecessary

Willingly shared, Conscious-level information

Reluctantly shared,

Conscious-level

information

Tri D Le 60

Flowchart for Instrument Design Phase 2

Question Content

Should this question be asked?

Is the question of proper scope and coverage?

Can the participant adequately answer this question as asked?

Will the participant willingly

Tri D Le 62

Question Wording

Criteria

Shared vocabulary

Single meaning

Misleading assumptions

Adequate

alternatives

Personalized

Biased

Summary of Scale Types

Tri D Le 64

Summary of Scale Types

Summary of Scale Types

Tri D Le 66

Summary of Scale Types

Internet Survey Scale Options

Tri D Le 68

Internet Survey Scale Options

Internet Survey Scale Options

Tri D Le 70

Flowchart for Instrument Design: Phase 3

Guidelines for Question Sequencing

Interesting topics early

Simple topics early

Sensitive questions later

Classification questions later

Transition between topics

Tri D Le 72

Illustrating the Funnel Approach

How do you think this country is getting along in its relations with other

countries?

How do you think we are doing in our relations with Iran?

Do you think we ought to be dealing with Iran differently than we are now? (If yes) What should we be doing differently?

Some people say we should get tougher with Iran and others think we are too tough as it is; how do you feel about it?

PicProfile: Branching Question

Thanks you for your attention!