Estudios de Mercado I · Tema 5 · Scales in marketing research (5.4)

Scale studio

Estudios de Mercado I · Tema 5 — Scale studio worksheet

The rule this tool exists to state: the scale sets the ceiling on your analysis. So work backwards — decide the analysis the client's question needs, then write the question at a scale that allows it. Build it below and see it exactly as the respondent will.

What this practical is for

To learn the rule of 5.4: the scale sets the ceiling on your analysis. You will choose how to measure each concept of your project by working backwards from what the client needs to know — before you write a single question.

What you will do

  1. Step 1 — write your project (topic, client, decision) — or pick a suggested project. If it comes from your qualitative study (Tema 3), load its results with one click: the themes become the concepts you measure. You keep this same project in the three practicals.5 min
  2. Step 2 — take one concept of the project, say exactly how you will observe it, and choose what you must do with the answer (count it, average it, rank it…). Note the minimum level of measurement it gives you.5 min
  3. Step 3 — build the scale, look at it as the respondent will, read the check panel and fix what it points out. Press ＋ add this concept to my project. Repeat steps 2–3 for three key concepts.20 min
  4. Step 4 — practise the four levels on 14 questions. Aim for 11 or more, and read the reason for every miss — the traps are on purpose.10 min
  5. Step 5 — check your three concepts, defend one scale decision and download the PDF. Then press Send my project to the builder: your project and your three concepts arrive in the questionnaire builder already filled in.10 min
What you hand in
  • The PDF: three concepts → operational definition → analysis → scale.
  • One scale decision, justified, and what you would lose with a lower scale.
  • Your practice score.
How it is marked
  • Each scale allows the analysis you need (no mean on a nominal question).
  • The operational definitions are observable, not vague.
  • The justification — the judgement is yours, not the tool's.

Next → Send my project to the builder (step 5) carries your project and your three concepts — with the analysis and the scale you chose — into the questionnaire builder. You do not type them again.

Working over several days? Everything saves itself in this browser. On a shared computer, or to switch computer, use 💾 Save my work at the bottom of the page and, next time, 📂 Open saved work.

1 Your project — the same one in the three practicals

Write the project your questionnaire is for. It travels with you: the builder and the checker will use this same topic.

Does your project come from a qualitative study (Tema 3)? Start from it. A survey usually quantifies what the qualitative study found: each theme becomes a concept you measure. Bring the results in — they also travel to the builder.
…or upload a file (.txt, .md, .docx, .pdf):

2 One concept — start from the analysis, not the question

Name a concept of your project, say how you will observe it, then pick what you need to do with the answer. The studio tells you the lowest scale that allows it.

3 Build the scale — see it as the respondent will

Pick a scale type, write your item, and the preview updates live. The panel under it states the level of measurement and the analysis it unlocks.

4 Practise — name the level of measurement

For each question, pick the level. You get the reason straight away — including the traps (numbers that are only labels, two-point “scales”, the Likert convention).

5 Your project's concepts — then send them to the builder

Every concept you added with ＋ is listed here: concept → operational definition → analysis → scale. Aim for three. Remove any you do not want with ×.

Next: the questionnaire builder. Download your PDF first, then press the button. Your topic, client, decision and every concept above — with its analysis and its scale — open in the builder already filled in (its steps 1 and 3). You do not type anything again.
Saved in this browser

To continue another day: your work saves itself in this browser on this computer. On a shared or university computer, or to switch computer, press 💾 Save my work — it downloads a small file. Next time, open this page and press 📂 Open saved work to pick up exactly where you left off. The PDF is what you hand in; the saved file is only for you.