Scaling Seriousness: An Evaluation of Magnitude and Category Scaling Techniques

Unidimensional attitude scaling in social research encompasses a variety of measurement techniques. A relevant issue in the application of any of these, however, is the extent to which different procedures yield similar results. For example, one might expect that since magnitude and category scales represent two distinct and different types of scaling, each would generate different sets of results. In categorical analysis, the subjects' judgements involve placing responses into intervals or categories; magnitude scaling involves judging strength or salience and order on a more expansive and continuous scale. Research in psychophysical scaling suggests, however, that category and magnitude scales are logarithmically related.' The purpose of this present report is to empirically display the relationship between these scale types within the context of the measurement of delinquency. It is thought that insight on selecting scale types for delinquency research can be gained by examining whether similar seriousness scores result from these methods.