SCALE OF

MEASUREMENT
NOMINAL
Nominal scales are the lowest scales of measurement.
Differences among categories are qualitative, not
quantitative.
Example:
Gender
Students status (full- vs. part-time)
Treatment group (treatment vs. control)
EXAMPLE:
Classifying people according to gender is a common application of a
nominal scale.
In the example below, the number "1" is assigned to "male" and the
number "2" is assigned to "female". We can just as easily assign the
number "1" to "female" and "2" to male. The purpose of the number is
merely to name the characteristic or give it "identity".
As we can see from the graphs, changing the number
assigned to "male" and "female" does not have any
impact on the data -- we still have the same number
of men and women in the data set.
ORDINAL
Ordinal scales categories can be rank ordered in
terms of amount or magnitude.
The simplest ordinal scale is a ranking.
Ranked preferences are presented as an example of
ordinal scales encountered in everyday life. We also
address the concept of unequal distance between scale
points.
can be represented by its mode or its median, but the
mean cannot be defined.
EXAMPLE:
Ranked Preferences
We are often interested in preferences for different
tastes, especially if we are planning a party. Let's say
that we asked the three students pictured below to
rank their preferences for four different sodas. We
usually rank our strongest preference as "1". With four
sodas, our lowest preference would be "4". For each
soda, we assign a rank that tells us the order
(magnitude) of the preference for that particular soda
(identity). The number simply tells us that we prefer
one soda over another, not "how much" more we
prefer the soda.
Because of the property of magnitude (or order), the
numbers are no longer considered arbitrary as they are
in nominal scales. If you asked students their
preferences because you wanted to serve what they like
best at a party, you would serve our first student Pepsi,
our second student Sprite, and our third student
Surge.
Let's change the numbers assigned to "Pepsi" and
"Coke" for our first student.

Changing the numbers changes the meaning of

the preferences. You would now serve our first student
Coke and not Pepsi.
INTERVAL
Interval scales have the properties of:
identity
magnitude
equal distance

The equal distance between scale points allows us to know how

many units greater than, or less than, one case is from another
on the measured characteristic. So, we can always be confident
that the meaning of the distance between 25 and 35 is the
same as the distance between 65 and 75. Interval scales DO
NOT have a true zero point; the number "0" is arbitrary.
EXAMPLE:
A good example of an interval scale is the
measurement of temperature on Fahrenheit or Celsius
scales. The units on a thermometer represent equal
volumes of mercury between each interval on the scale.
The thermometer identifies for us how many units of
mercury correspond to the temperature measured.

We know that 60° is hotter than 30° and that there is
the same 10-degree difference in temperature between
20° and 30° as between 50° and 60°. Zero degrees on
either scale is an arbitrary number and not a "true"
zero. The zero point does not indicate an absence of
temperature; it is an arbitrary point on the scale.

Other examples for everyday interval scales: Age (0 is

culturally determined), SAT scores.
RATIO
Ratio scales of measurement have all of the properties of the
abstract number system.
identity
magnitude
equal distance
absolute/true zero

These properties allow us to apply all of the possible mathematical

operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) in
data analysis. The absolute/true zero allows us to know how
many times greater one case is than another. Scales with an
absolute zero and equal interval are considered ratio scales.
EXAMPLE:
Money is a good example of an everyday ratio scale of
measurement. If we have $100 we have twice as much
purchasing power as $50.

If we have no money in our pockets, we have

absolutely no ability to purchase anything.

Other examples of everyday ratio scales: Household

size, annual income.