Measurement of Variables.

AbstractThis chapter introduces how tangible and intangible variables are measured. Generally speaking, variables can be measured by the four types of scales: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. In order to conduct scientific research, the intangible variables' goodness of measure should also be verified. Goodness of measure can be established through various reliability and validity tests such as Cronbach's Alpha, content validity, construct validity and criterion validity. As developing a multi-item scale is a laborious task, leisure, recreation and tourism researchers should borrow the scales that are already qualified from the reliability and validity tests where available (Ekinci, 2015; Gursoy et al., 2015). If a reliable and valid scale is not available, developing a new scale may be necessary by following the scale-development process introduced in this chapter.