Table 4.

The nine stage scaling method

Scale	Comparison of the importance of the two factors
1	Both factors are equally important
3	The vertical index is slightly more important than the horizontal index
5	The vertical index is more important than the horizontal index
7	The vertical index is very more important than the horizontal index
9	The vertical index is extremely more important than the horizontal index
2, 4, 6, 8	The degree of importance of vertical index over horizontal index is between the two adjacent grades above