Editor’s note: Julia Maier is an analytics associate at research firm KJT Group, Honeoye Fall, N.Y. 

Height. Weight. Volume. 

These variables have clear definitions. Height relates to how tall something is – vertical distance. Weight pertains to how heavy something is regardless of its size. Volume is the amount of space something occupies; it incorporates height but not weight.

Although we understand the differences between height, weight and volume, measuring them as variables requires an extra step: we need to establish how we are measuring it. Are we measuring weight at sea level in pounds or on Mount Everest in stones? In research it is utterly useless to say one participant weighs 150 and the other weighs 10.7 without establishing a unit of measurement. We only recognize the two participants are of equal weight when we compare them on the same scale.

Satisfaction. Loyalty. Preference.

These are abstract variables that do not have clear definitions nor standard units of measurement. Despite this, market research often pretends they are as straightforward to measure as height. We use a single question – “How satisfied are you with this?” – the same way we might ask, “How tall are you?” Satisfaction and height, however, are not similar concepts. There is universal understanding of what 6 feet represents. Respondents know how to obtain that information and we can expect that two respondents who give the same answer are of the same height. 

Beyond the issue of having no standard unit of measurement, abstract variables are complex. Rather than height, satisfaction may be more akin to volume. Volume requires multiple measurements that are combined in a predetermined way for the type of object under investigation. To get the volume of a cube, you collect one piece of information and perform a specific operation. For a pyramid, you need more pieces of information and a different opera...