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Welcome to the desert of the real: reality, realism, measurement, and C-OAR-SE

Nick Lee (Warwick Business School Warwick University, Coventry, UK)
John Cadogan (School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK and LUT School of Business and Management, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland)

European Journal of Marketing

ISSN: 0309-0566

Article publication date: 14 November 2016

937

Abstract

Purpose

This paper provides a balanced commentary on Rossiter’s paper “How to use C-OAR-SE to design optimal standard measures” in this issue of the “European Journal of Marketing”. It also relates the comments in general to Rossiter’s other C-OAR-SE work and throws light on a number of key measurement issues that seem under-appreciated at present in marketing and business research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use conceptual argument based on measurement theory and philosophy of science.

Findings

The authors find that Rossiter’s work makes a number of important points that are necessary in the current stage of development of marketing and social science. However, the authors also find that many of these points are also well made by fundamental measurement theories. When measurement theory is correctly interpreted, the idea of multiple measures of the same thing is not problematic. However, they show that existing social science measurement practice rarely takes account of the important issues at play here.

Practical implications

The authors show that marketing, management and social science researchers need to get better in terms of their appreciation of measurement theory and in their practices of measurement.

Originality/value

The authors identify a number of areas where marketing and social science measurement can be improved, taking account of the important aspects of C-OAR-SE and incorporating them in good practice, without needlessly avoiding existing good practices.

Keywords

Citation

Lee, N. and Cadogan, J. (2016), "Welcome to the desert of the real: reality, realism, measurement, and C-OAR-SE", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 50 No. 11, pp. 1959-1968. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-10-2016-0549

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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