SCALES OF MEASUREMENT

There are four scales (or levels) at which we measure. The lowest level is the nominal scale. This may be thought of as the naming level. For example, when we ask sub ects to name their marital status, they will respon! with wor!s"not numbers"that !escribe their status such as marrie!, single, !ivorce!, etc. #otice that nominal !ata !o not put sub ects in any particular or!er. There is no logical basis for saying that one category such as single is higher or lower than any other. The next level is ordinal. $t this level we put sub ects in or!er from high to low. For instance, an employer might rank or!er applicants for a ob on their professional appearance. Tra!itionally, we give a rank of % to the sub ect who is highest, & to the next highest, an! so on. 't is important to note that ranks !o not tell us by how much sub ects !iffer. 'f we are tol! that (anet has a rank of % an! Frank has a rank of &, we !o not know if (anet)s appearance is greatly superior to Frank)s or only slightly superior. To measure the amount of !ifference among sub ects, we use the next levels of measurement. *easurements at the interval an! ratio levels have e+ual !istances among the scores they yiel!. For example, when we say that (ill weighs %&, poun!s an! -ally weighs %., poun!s, we know by how much the two sub ects !iffer. $lso, note that a %, poun! !ifference represents the same amount regar!less of where we are on the scale. For instance, the !ifference between %&, an! %., poun!s is the same as the !ifference be/ tween &&, an! &., poun!s. The ratio scale is at a higher level than the interval scale because the ratio has an absolute zero point that we know how to measure. Thus, weight is an example of the ratio scale because it has an absolute 0ero that we can measure. The interval scale, while having e+ual intervals like the ratio scale, !oes not have an absolute 0ero. The most common examples of interval scales are scores obtaine! using ob ective tests such as multiple/choice tests of achievement. 't is wi!ely assume! that each multiple/choice test item measures a single point)s worth of the trait being measure! an! that all points are e+ual to all other points"making it an interval scale ( ust as all poun!s are e+ual to all other poun!s of weight). 1owever, such tests !o not measure at the ratio level because the 0ero on such tests is arbitrary"not absolute. To see this, consi!er someone who gets a 0ero on a multiple/choice final examination. 2oes the 0ero mean that the stu!ent has absolutely no knowle!ge of or skills in the sub ect area3 4robably not. 1e or she probably has some knowle!ge of simple facts, !efinitions, an! concepts, but the test was not !esigne! to measure at the skill level at which the stu!ent is operating. Thus, a score of 0ero only in!icates that they know nothing on that test " not that they have 0ero knowle!ge of the content !omain.

1ere)s a summary of the levels5 6666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666 7owest 7evel -cale 8haracteristic 6666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666 #ominal naming 9r!inal ordering 'nterval equal interval without absolute zero :atio equal interval with absolute zero __________________________________________________________ 1ighest 6666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666 For those of you who like to use mnemonics when memori0ing material, try learning this environmentally frien!ly phrase5 No Oil In Rivers The first letters #9': are the first letters of the scales in or!er from lowest to highest. $t which level shoul! we measure3 First, some variables are inherently nominal in nature. For example, when we nee! to know sub ects) gen!er or state of resi!ence, nominal !ata is the natural choice. -econ!, many novice researchers overuse the or!inal scale. For instance, if we want to measure rea!ing ability, it usually woul! be much better to use a carefully constructe! stan!ar!i0e! test (which measures at the interval level) than having teachers rank or!er stu!ents in terms of their rea!ing ability. :emember, measur/ ing at the interval level gives you more information because it tells you by how much stu!ents !iffer. $lso, as you will learn when we explore statistics, you can !o more interesting an! powerful types of analyses when you measure at the interval rather than the or!inal level. Thus, when planning instruments for a research pro ect, if you are thinking in terms of having sub ects ranke! (for or!inal measurement), you woul! be well a!vise! to consi!er whether there is an alternative at the interval level. The choice between interval an! ratio !epen!s solely on whether it is possible to measure with an absolute 0ero. ;hen it is possible, we usually !o so. For the purposes of statistical analysis, interval an! ratio !ata are treate! in the same way. The level at which we measure has important implications for !ata analysis, so you will fin! references to scales of measurement throughout our !iscussion of statistics.

E ERCISE
%. 'f we ask sub ects to name the country in which they were born, we are using what scale of measurement3 &. ;hich two scales of measurement have e+ual !istances among the scores they yiel!3 .. 'f we have a teacher rank stu!ents accor!ing to their oral language skills, we are using which scale of measurement3 <. ;hich scale of measurement has an absolute 0ero that is measure!3 =. ;hich scale of measurement is at the lowest level3 >. 9b ective, multiple choice achievement tests are usually assume! to measure at what level3 ?. 'f we measure in such a way that we fin! out which sub ect is most honest, which is the next most honest, an! so on, we are measuring at what scale of measurement3 @. The number of minutes of overtime work that employees perform is an example of what scale of measurement3 A. ;eight measure! in poun!s is an example of which scale of measurement3

Buestions for 2iscussion

%,. #ame a trait that inherently len!s itself to nominal measurement. Cxplain your answer. ''. $ researcher plans to rank or!er ten schools accor!ing to the amount of parental involvement in each school. 8oul! parental involvement be measure! at a higher level3 Cxplain.

$#-;C:%. &. .. <. =. >. ?. @. A. %,. %%. nominal interval an! ratio or!inal ratio nominal interval or!inal ratio ratio -ample answers5 religious affiliation, employment status -ample answer5 9ne coul! !evelop a measure in which points are awar!e! to each school for !ifferent types of parental involvementD i! ea"h point is assumed to be e#ual to ea"h o! the other points, the measurements woul! be at the interval level. :eference 4atten, *.7. (%AA?). En!erstan!ing research metho!s5 $n overview of the essentials. 7os $ngeles, 8$5 4yrc0ak 4ublishing, pp. A=/A>.