1 of 7

PRACTICE 2: MEASUREMENT SCALES AND DATA TYPES

PLAN:

1. Nominal Scale

2. Ordinal Scale

3. Interval Scale

4. Ratio Scale

2 of 7

Nominal scale

The term "Nomen" means "name." This scale does not measure quantitative states or magnitudes. It is used solely to distinguish one object from another or one subject from another.

Examples:

-Names

-Location (urban–rural)

-Education level (higher education, secondary education)

3 of 7

Ordinal scale

The results shown by subjects are arranged in a specific order. For example, the results of students who received the highest scores start from the beginning of the sequence.

The ordinal scale is also known as the ranking scale. This can include school grades, levels evaluated from low to high, and ordered sequences of values or preferences.

Example: Suppose Candidate A scored 15 points, Candidate B scored 23 points, and Candidate C scored 42 points. The sequence of scores is arranged in the following ranking order:

1) 15

2) 23

3) 42

4 of 7

Interval scale

The principles of "greater" and "smaller" imply precise quantities of regular units. This scale is widely used in psychology. Its main difference from the ratio scale is that in this scale, "0" carries a specific meaning. For example, saying the air temperature is 0°C represents a specific point on the scale rather than the total absence of temperature.

Similarly, scoring "0" on an intelligence test does not mean that intelligence is completely absent. An example of this is Wechsler's questionnaire, which is classified within 10-point intervals:

Level 1: 69 and below;

Level 2: 70–79;

Level 3: 80–89;

Level 4: 90–109;

Level 5: 110–119;

Level 6: 120–129;

Level 7: 130 and above.

5 of 7

Ration scale

This is the most powerful scale. It allows for measuring how many times larger or smaller one measured object is compared to another that has been accepted as a standard unit. The ratio scale has a natural starting point of "0". In this case, "0" signifies the total absence of the measured attribute.

It is most commonly used to measure dimensions such as length, width, and weight.

Example: If Group A experienced 16 conflicts and Group B experienced 5 conflicts, we can conclude that 3.2 times more conflicts occurred in the first group compared to the second.

6 of 7

Measurement scales and their corresponding results can be divided into two main groups:

Non-metric scales – nominal and ordinal scales. Mathematical operations (addition, subtraction) cannot be performed on these scales.