Hutcheson, G. D. (2011). Measurement Scales. In L. Moutinho and G. D.

Hutcheson, The
SAGE Dictionary of Quantitative Management Research. Pages 184-187.

Measurement Scales
Introduction
There are many different types of information and ways in which this information may be categorised and
represented as data. Although a number of different schemes for representing data have been proposed that
utilise a variety of categories and sub-divisions (see, for example, Agresti and Finlay, 1997; Barford, 1985;
Harris, 1999; Lindsey, 1995; Sarle, 1995; Verzani, 2005), in this chapter I will distinguish between just a few
distinct scales of measurement which will allow a wide range of graphical methods and statistical analyses to
be applied. It is worth noting at this point that the process of representing information using particular scales
of measurement is not always obvious, as some information may be legitimately classified in a variety of
ways depending on the properties of the information, the coding scheme used to represent this, the number of
observations recorded, the type of analysis to be used and the specific research questions being asked. The
classification of data into different scales of measurement is not, therefore, an exact science. I will, however,
concentrate on practical considerations by showing how a wide range of information may be profitably
classified for analytical purposes.

Key Features
Measurement scales need to be accurately identified in order to...

appropriately code the data

select appropriate analytical methods for the coded data (i.e., techniques designed for use on data
recorded on a continuous scale are not used with data recorded on an ordered categorical scale)

draw appropriate conclusions from the analyses (this requires one to distinguish between the scales
of the attribute and the data).

Data can be broadly divided into two main categories; numeric data and categorical data, with each of these
categories further divided into two; numeric data into continuous and count, and categorical data into ordered
and unordered (this is by no means a full list of data types, but is one that differentiates data on the basis of a
number of distinct statistical techniques that may be applied).

Numeric Data
Some information can be represented directly using numbers and the resulting data can be described as
numeric. I will deal here with two main categories of numeric data continuous data and count data.
Continuous data
A data point (a single observation) on a continuous scale can, in theory at least, assume any value between
the highest and lowest points on the scale. The only restriction on the number of values, is the accuracy of
the measuring instrument. For example, the weight of a person can be measured fairly crudely in pounds
using a set of bathroom scales, or measured much more accurately in grammes using a professional set of
medical scales. A person can, within certain limits at least, be any weight. Other types of information that
may be regarded as continuous are people's ages, salaries, IQ scores, percentage marks in examinations or
time spent engaged in certain activities. Two different types of continuous data are commonly distinguished,
ratio and interval scales, although for analytical purposes such a distinction is not usually important, as few
statistics are applicable to only one of these scales. The difference between ratio and interval data is simply
that ratio data has a real zero point whereas interval data does not. One may, therefore, legitimately talk
about ratios for ratio data but not for interval data (for example, 10 grammes is twice as heavy as 5 grammes,
but 10 degrees Celsius is not twice as hot as 5 degrees Celsius).

Count data
A data point on a count scale can assume any positive number (integer). Similar to continuous data, the value
of the data points are meaningful as a count of 5 is half that of a count of 10, and if you add 2 onto a count of
4 you do get a count of 6. Count data does, however, differ from continuous data in that counts are restricted
to positive integers and any statistical techniques applied to count data need to recognise this (see, for
example Poisson regression models).

Categorical Data
Some information may be identified using a number of individual categories and coded into what is
commonly termed categorical data (also known as discrete data). Two major types of categorical data,
unordered categories and ordered categories, are described below.
Unordered Categorical Data
Unordered categorical data consist of a number of separate categories that do not have any inherent order.
For example, information about gender is recorded using unordered categories as a person may be, generally
speaking, either male or female. Any person must fall into one or other of the categories, there are no inbetween values. Unordered categorical data consisting of two categories are commonly referred to as
dichotomous. Other examples of dichotomous unordered categorical data are success-failure, died-survived,
employed-unemployed, yes-no and two-group experimental units (e.g., group A - group B). Unordered
categorical data may also have more than two categories, as with blood group (A, B, O-negative, etc.), make
of car (Ford, Nissan, BMW), residential status (owner-occupier, privately rented, council-rented),
experimental group (group A, group B, group C, etc.,) and individual subjects that take part in a study
(subject01, subject02, subject03 etc.). These data are commonly referred to as polytomous.
Ordered Categorical Data
Ordered categorical data is composed of a number of distinct categories which have an order. For example, a
person's highest academic qualification may be a school certificate, a diploma from a college, or a
postgraduate degree obtained through prolonged study at a University. These qualifications represent distinct
categories in that a person's highest academic achievement will be one or other of the categories, there are no
in-between values. The categories also have an order, in that a school certificate is generally considered to be
less advanced than a diploma and a diploma less advanced than a postgraduate degree. Other examples of
ordered categorical data are seniority at work (junior manager, section head, director), judo gradings (yellow,
blue and black belts) and poker hands (pairs, triples, full houses, etc.,) with perhaps the classic example
being found in the armed forces or police service where seniority is explicitly designated by ranks.

Applying Statistics to Data

The identification of the measurement scale used is important as it is this information that dictates the type of
analyses that are appropriate. For example, if one considers regression models, continuous data may be
modelled using an OLS regression, count data may be modelled using a Poisson regression, ordered data
may be modelled using a proportional odds or a probit model, and unordered categorical data may be
modelled using a logistic regression or multi-nomial logistic regression model. Knowing the scale of
measurement of a particular variable enables an analytical technique to be identified.

Distinguishing the attribute and the scale of measurement

Data may be recorded using the scales presented above, but one needs to be careful to distinguish between
the actual variable being measured (the attribute) and the measurement itself (the recorded data). This
distinction is an important one and forms the basis of measurement theory.
The fundamental idea behind measurement theory is that measurements are not the
same as the attribute being measured. Hence, if you want to draw conclusions about

the attribute, you must take into account the nature of the correspondence between the
attribute and the measurements.
Sarle, 1995
The main point here is that although conclusions are often applied to the attribute, all analyses are conducted
on the recorded data. If there is no one-to-one correspondence between the two, conclusions may be
unsound. For example, many variables that may appear to be continuous are recorded as ordered. Some
examples of these are information recorded using Likert-scales, attitudes, mental-health (recorded as: 'well',
'mild symptoms', 'moderate symptoms' and 'impaired functioning'), socio-economic status and consumer
evaluations. Although one might consider evaluations of mental health as continuous data and select an OLS
regression model, it is important to realise that the recorded data that represents this information is ordered
which suggests that an ordered regression technique such as a proportional odds model might be a more
appropriate analytical technique.

Conclusion
This chapter was designed to illustrate the importance of correctly identifying the scale of measurement used
to record an attribute and the relationship between the attribute and the measurements themselves.
Identifying the scale of measurement is particularly important as it is this that dictates which statistical
analysis technique may be used. In order to apply these techniques appropriately and fully appreciate their
advantages and limitations, students must be familiar with the measurement scales of the variables that they
are modelling. Indeed, measurement theory is crucial to the whole endeavour of data analysis and its
importance has been summed up by Sarle, in the final section of his paper:
``Measurement theory encourages people to think about the meaning of their data. It
encourages critical assessment of the assumptions behind the analysis. It encourages
responsible real-world data analysis.''
Sarle, 1995

Further Reading
Agresti, A. and Finlay, B. (1997). Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences (third edition). Prentice-Hall.
Barford, N. (1985). Experimental Measurements: Precision, Error and Truth (second edition). John Wiley & Sons.
Harris, R. L. (1999). Information Graphics: A comprehensive illustrated reference. Oxford University Press.
Hutcheson and Moutinho (2008). Statistical Modeling in Management. Sage Publications
Lindsey, J. K. (1995). Introductory Statistics: a modelling approach. Oxford University Press.
Sarle, W. S. (1995). Measurement Theory: Frequently Asked Questions. Dissemination of the International Statistical
Applications Institute (fourth edition). ACG Press.
Verzani, J. (2005). Using R for introductory statistics. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman & Hall/CRC.

Dr Graeme D. Hutcheson
Manchester University