Scales of Measurement: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval & Ratio: Categorical, Classification or Qualitative Variables
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ShScales of Measurement: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval & Ratio: Categorical, Classification or Qualitative Variables
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ShScales of Measurement: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval & Ratio
There are four measurement scales (or types of data): nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio.
These are simply ways to categorize different types of variables. The type of variable is
indicated by the scale of measurement. Two are qualitative (nominal and ordinal) and two are
quantitative (interval and scale).
Categorical, classification or qualitative variables
i. Nominal or "Attribute":
Nominal scales are used for labelling variables, without any quantitative value. “Nominal”
scales could simply be called “labels.” The set of all possible values fall into a finite set of
mutually exclusive and exhaustive classes. Notice that all of these scales are mutually
exclusive (no overlap) and none of them have any numerical significance. (Nominal sounds
like “name”)
The values of nominal variables need not be numerically meaningful: addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division do not necessarily make sense.
Examples:
Sex (male, female)
Sex (0, 1)
Colour (red, yellow, blue ...)
Note: A sub-type of nominal scale with only two categories (e.g. male/female) is called
“dichotomous.”
ii. Ordinal or "Rank"
A nominal variable whose classes or categories have a natural, logical, order. With ordinal
scales, it is the order of the values is what’s important and significant, but the differences
between each one is not really known.
For example, is the difference between “OK” and “Unhappy” the same as the difference
between “Very Happy” and “Happy?” We can’t say. Ordinal scales are typically measures of
non-numeric concepts like satisfaction, happiness, discomfort, etc.
Examples:
Quality (poor, fair, good, excellent)
Academic level (freshman, junior, senior, graduate)
Grade (A, A−, B+, B ...)
Temperature (cold, cool, lukewarm, warm, hot)
Height (short, average, tall)
Quantitative or "Measurement" ("Continuous")
iii. Interval
Interval scales are numeric scales in which we know not only the order, but also the exact
differences between the values. The classic example of an interval scale is Celsius
temperature because the difference between each value is the same. For example, the
difference between 60 and 50 degrees is a measurable 10 degrees, as is the difference
between 80 and 70 degrees. “Interval” itself means “space in between,” which is the
important thing to remember–interval scales not only tell us about order, but also about the
value between each item. All possible values are numbers, and subtraction makes sense
(intervals are meaningful).
Examples:
Temperature (degrees Fahrenheit)
Temperature (°C)
Direction (degrees)
The problem with interval scales: they don’t have a “true zero.” For example, there is no
such thing as “no temperature.” Without a true zero, it is impossible to compute ratios. With
interval data, we can add and subtract, but cannot multiply or divide.
iv. Ratio
Ratio scales tell us about the order, they tell us the exact value between units, AND they also
have an absolute zero i.e., zero (0) means "none".
Good examples of ratio variables include height and weight.
These variables can be meaningfully added, subtracted, multiplied, divided (ratios).
Examples:
Variable (Values)
Height (ft)
Weight (gm)
Volume (cm3)
Age (years)
Angle (degrees or radians)
Number of eggs laid by an individual insect (0, 1, 2... 332... 712 ...)
Baskets in 60 seconds (0, 1, 2 ...)
Number of children in a family (0, 1, 2 ...)
Number of strikeouts in an inning (0, 1, 2, 3)
Note: direction (degrees) is interval, because a direction of 0° does not mean “no direction”,
and a direction of 20°, is not twice as much direction as 10°, so ratios do not make sense.
Angle (degrees) is ratio, because an angle of 0° is no angle at all, and a 20° angle is twice a
10° angle, so ratios do make sense.
