STATISTICS: NOTES

LEVEL OF MEASUREMENTS: (NOMINAL, ORDINAL, INTERVAL & RATIO)

NOMINAL SCALE (1st level of measurement)

- Also called the “categorical variable scale”
- variables are simply “named” or labeled, with no specific order
- used for labeling variables into distinct classifications and doesn’t involve a
quantitative value or order

Examples of nominal variables include:

genotype, blood type, zip code, gender, race, eye colors, political party

What is
What is your Political
your Where do you live?
preference?
Gender?

 M-
 1- Independent  1- Suburbs
Male
 2- Democrat  2- City
 F-
 3- Republican  3- Town
Female

ORDINAL SCALE - all its variables in a specific order, beyond just naming them
- Depicts “order”
- used to simply depict the order of variables and not the difference between
each of the variables
- used to depict non-mathematical ideas such as frequency, satisfaction,
happiness, a degree of pain
- Ex. :Status at workplace, tournament team rankings, order of product quality,
and order of agreement or satisfaction

Examples of ordinal variables include:

- socio economic status (“low income”,”middle income”,”high income”)

- education level (“high school”,”BS”,”MS”,”PhD”)

- income level (“less than 50K”, “50K-100K”, “over 100K”)

- satisfaction rating (“extremely dislike”, “dislike”, “neutral”, “like”, “extremely

like”).

- How satisfied are you with our services?

o Very Unsatisfied – 1
o Unsatisfied – 2
o Neutral – 3
o Satisfied – 4
o Very Satisfied – 5
Advanced note: The best way to determine central tendency on a set of ordinal data is to
use the mode or median; a purist will tell you that the mean cannot be defined from an
ordinal set.

INTERVAL SCALE - offers labels, order, as well as, a specific interval between
each of its variable options
- order of the variables is known as well as the difference between these
variables
- Variables that have familiar, constant, and computable differences are
classified using the Interval scale
- contains all the properties of the ordinal scale, in addition to which, it offers a
calculation of the difference between variables
- “Interval” itself means “space in between,” which is the important thing to
remember–interval scales not only tell us about order, but also about the value
between each item.

Examples of interval variables include:

- temperature (Farenheit), temperature (Celcius), pH, SAT score (200-800),

credit score (300-850).

EXAMPLES:

- 80 degrees is always higher than 50 degrees and the difference between these
two temperatures is the same as the difference between 70 degrees and 40
degrees.
- Also, the value of 0 is arbitrary because negative values of temperature do
exist – which makes the Celsius/Fahrenheit temperature scale a classic example
of an interval scale.
- Interval scale is often chosen in research cases where the difference between
variables is a mandate – which can’t be achieved using a nominal or ordinal scale.
The Interval scale quantifies the difference between two variables whereas the
other two scales are solely capable of associating qualitative values with
variables.
- The mean and median values in an ordinal scale can be evaluated, unlike the
previous two scales.
- In statistics, interval scale is frequently used as a numerical value can not only
be assigned to variables but calculation on the basis of those values can also be
carried out.

Even if interval scales are amazing, they do not calculate the “true zero” value which is why
the next scale comes into the picture.

Ex.: 10 degrees C + 10 degrees C = 20 degrees C.  No problem there.  20 degrees C is not
twice as hot as 10 degrees C, however, because there is no such thing as “no temperature”
when it comes to the Celsius scale.  When converted to Fahrenheit, it’s clear: 10C=50F and
20C=68F, which is clearly not twice as hot.  I hope that makes sense. Bottom line, interval
scales are great, but we cannot calculate ratios, which brings us to our last measurement
scale…
 RATIO SCALE - all the characteristics of an interval scale, in addition to that, it
can also accommodate the value of “zero” on any of its variables
- not only produces the order of variables but also makes the difference between
variables known along with information on the value of true zero
- the variables have an option for zero, the difference between the two variables
is the same and there is a specific order between the options
- accommodates the characteristic of three other variable measurement scales,
i.e. labeling the variables, the significance of the order of variables, and a
calculable difference between variables (which are usually equidistant)
- Because of the existence of true zero value, the ratio scale doesn’t have
negative values
- examples of ratio variables include height, weight, and duration

Examples of ratio variables include:

- enzyme activity, dose amount, reaction rate, flow rate, concentration, pulse,
weight, length, temperature in Kelvin (0.0 Kelvin really does mean “no heat”),
survival time.

When working with ratio variables, but not interval variables, the ratio of two
measurements has a meaningful interpretation. For example, because weight is a ratio
variable, a weight of 4 grams is twice as heavy as a weight of 2 grams. However, a
temperature of 10 degrees C should not be considered twice as hot as 5 degrees C. If it
were, a conflict would be created because 10 degrees C is 50 degrees F and 5 degrees C is
41 degrees F. Clearly, 50 degrees is not twice 41 degrees.  Another example, a pH of 3 is
not twice as acidic as a pH of 6, because pH is not a ratio variable.

EXAMPLES:

 What is your daughter’s current height?

 Less than 5 feet.
 5 feet 1 inch – 5 feet 5 inches
 5 feet 6 inches- 6 feet
 More than 6 feet
 What is your weight in kilograms?
 Less than 50 kilograms
 51- 70 kilograms
 71- 90 kilograms
 91-110 kilograms
 More than 110 kilograms

SUMMARY:

In summary, nominal variables are used to “name,” or label a series of values.

Ordinal scales provide good information about the order of choices, such as in a customer
satisfaction survey.  Interval scales give us the order of values + the ability to quantify the
difference between each one.  Finally, Ratio scales give us the ultimate–order, interval
values, plus the ability to calculate ratios since a “true zero” can be defined.
POPULATION AND SAMPLE

POPULATION

- data set contains all members of a specified group (the entire list of possible
data values). [Utilizes the count n  in formulas.]
- Statistics such as averages and standard deviations, when taken from
populations are referred to as population parameters. They are often denoted
by Greek letters: the population mean is denoted by μ(mu) and the standard
deviation denoted by ς (low case sigma)
- includes all of the elements from a set of data
-

Example:  The population may be "ALL people living in the US."

SAMPLE

- data set contains a part, or a subset, of a population. The size of a sample is

always less than the size of the population from which it is taken. [Utilizes the
count n - 1 in formulas.]
- the group of individuals who actually participate in your study
- These are the individuals who you end up interviewing (e.g., in a qualitative
study) or who actually complete your survey (e.g., in a quantitative study)
- consists one or more observations drawn from the population

Example: The sample may be "SOME people living in the US."

SUMMARY:

To summarize: your sample is the group of individuals who participate in your study, and
your population is the broader group of people to whom your results will apply. As an
analogy, you can think of your sample as an aquarium and your population as the ocean. Your
sample is small portion of a vaster ocean that you are attempting to understand. Properly
distinguishing between these two concepts will aid you as you navigate the methodological
details of your dissertation.