Page 21 - Quantitative Data Analysis

Quantitative Data Analysis
Simply Explained Using SPSS

Scales of Measurement

1. Nominal Scale

Nominal scale is used for grouping or categorizing data when order
does not matter. A nominal variable consists of named categories,
with no implied order among the categories. Numbers serve as
labels and do not indicate any quantitative relationship.

1. Examples:
1. Have condition X or not
2. Gender (M/F vs. 0/1) [coding is common]
3. Hair/eye color
4. Teaching Method X vs Teaching Method Y
5. Marital status

6. Ordinal Scale

An ordinal variable consists of ordered categories where
the distance between the categories cannot be considered
to be equal. Ordinal variable indicates rank order.
7. Examples:
1. Letter grades (A, B, …)
2. Evaluations (Excellent, …, Poor)
st
nd
3. Places finishing a race (1 , 2 , …)
4. birth order, Olympic medals, Likert scale

5. Interval Scale

An interval variable has equal distances between values,
but the zero point is arbitrary. The numbers serve as scores

The Theory and Applications of Statistical Inferences 5