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COMPARATIVE RATING SCALE

A type of scale, which requires the respondents to make their ratings as a series of relative judgments or
comparisons with a benchmarkperhaps another similar concept such as a comparative brand
explicitly used as a frame of reference. In many cases the comparative rating scale presents the ideal
situation as a reference point for comparison with the actual situation. For example, please indicate
amount of space in your present car that compares with the amount of space you feel should be in an
ideal car.
First type of comparative scaling is paired comparison scale. Paired Comparison Scale A paired
comparative scale is a technique in which respondent is presented with two objects at a time in the pair
and asked to select one according to some criterion. It is like an ordinal scale in which two objects are
ranked. Let us see the example. We are presenting you with ten pairs of shampoo brands. Please
indicate which one you like for your use.

In the above table, we see that figure 1 in the box means that column brand is preferred to
corresponding brand in row and a zero in the box means that brand in row is preferred to the
corresponding column.
Rank Order Scale: This scale is also comparative in nature. It involves asking the respondents to rank
various brands/objects with regard to some criterion. For example a respondent may be asked to rank
five print ads on the basis of awareness, it provides, liking of the respondent or intention to buy. Look at
the following data.
An Example of Rank-Order Scale
Please rank the following brands of fruit juices in order of preference from 1 to 7.rate your most
preferred brand as 1 and least preferred brand 7; all others are in between No. 2 brands will receive the
same rating. There is no right or wrong answer: it is just matter of preference.
Brand
Preference
order
A 2
B 6
C 4
D 1
E 7
F 5
G 3
This technique is frequently used in marketing research. Advantages of rank-order scaling include that it
is simple concept, easy to administer and less time consuming to administer than other comparative
scale such as paired comparison. The instructions for ranking objects are easy to comprehend. It is also
said that the ranking made by the respondent is closer to his/her real purchase situation. The major
disadvantage of rank order scale is that it produces only ordinal data. It does not mean that first
preference in the set is the most liked. It may be least disliked in the set.
Constant-Sum Scale: In constant-sum scale respondents are required to allocate a fixed number of
rating point (usually 100) among several objects. It is widely used to measure the relative importance of
various attributes of the object. See the following example. Please divide 100 points among the
following characteristics of a tooth paste that reflects the relative importance of each characteristic to
you in the selection of toothpaste. It an attribute is unimportant to you, assign zero.

Taste _____________8_________ Fragrance _____________7_________ Tube
_____________5_________ Cleanliness of teeth _____________35________ Prevention of tooth decay
____________25________ Price _____________2_________ Quality _____________8_________
Shining of the teeth _____________10________ Total 100 _______

The relative importance of the attributes is determined by the counting the points assigned by all
respondents and dividing by the number of respondents. The main merit of the constant sum scale is
that it permits fine distinction of attributes of an object without much time. However it may be difficult
to allocate points to several categories. The main disadvantage of this scale is that respondents may
allocate points that exceeds or are short of the required total say 103o or 97o instead of 100.

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