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Types of Data & Measurement Scales

What a scale actually means and what we can do with it depends on what
its numbers represent. Numbers can be grouped into 4 types or levels: nominal, ordinal,
interval, and ratio. Nominal is the simplest, and ratio the most sophisticated. Each level
possesses the characteristics of the preceding level, plus an additional quality.

There are four measurement scales (or types of data): nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio.
These are simply ways to categorize different types of variables.
We need to Thank a psychologist/ researcher named Stanley Stevens for coming up with
these terms.
These four measurement scales (nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio) are best understood
with an example.

Nominal
Let’s start with the easiest one to understand.  Nominal scales are used for labelling variables,
without any quantitative value.  “Nominal” scales could simply be called “labels.”  Here are
some examples, below.  Notice that all of these scales are mutually exclusive (no overlap)
and none of them have any numerical significance.  A good way to remember all of this is
that “nominal” sounds a lot like “name” and nominal scales are kind of like “names” or
labels.

Note: a sub-type of nominal scale with only two categories (e.g. male/female) is called
“dichotomous.”  If you are a student, you can use that to impress your teacher.
Continue reading about types of data and measurement scales: nominal, ordinal, interval, and
ratio…

Nominal is hardly measurement. It refers to quality more than quantity. A nominal level of
measurement is simply a matter of distinguishing by name, e.g., 1 = male, 2 = female. Even though
we are using the numbers 1 and 2, they do not denote quantity. The binary category of 0 and 1 used
for computers is a nominal level of measurement. They are categories or classifications. Nominal
measurement is like using categorical levels of variables

Nominal time of day - categories; no additional information

Nominal

The lowest measurement level you can use, from a statistical point of view, is a nominal
scale.

A nominal scale, as the name implies, is simply some placing of data into categories,
without any order or structure.
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A physical example of a nominal scale is the terms we use for colours. The underlying
spectrum is ordered but the names are nominal.

In research activities a YES/NO scale is nominal. It has no order and there is no distance
between YES and NO.

and statistics
The statistics which can be used with nominal scales are in the non-parametric group. The
most likely ones would be:
Mode cross tabulation - with chi-square. There are also highly sophisticated modelling
techniques available for nominal data.

Ordinal

Ordinal refers to order in measurement. An ordinal scale indicates direction, in addition to

providing nominal information. Low/Medium/High; or Faster/Slower are examples of ordinal
levels of measurement. Ranking an experience as a "nine" on a scale of 1 to 10 tells us that it
was higher than an experience ranked as a "six." Many psychological scales or inventories are
at the ordinal level of measurement.

Ordinal time of day - indicates direction or order of occurrence; spacing between is uneven

An ordinal scale is next up the list in terms of power of measurement. The simplest ordinal
scale is a ranking. When a market researcher asks you to rank 5 types of beer from most
flavourful to least flavourful, he/she is asking you to create an ordinal scale of preference.
OTHER scales were constructed so as to possess equal intervals
With ordinal scales, it is the order of the values is what’s important and significant, but the
differences between each one is not really known.  Take a look at the example below.  In
each case, we know that a #4 is better than a #3 or #2, but we don’t know–and cannot
quantify–how much better it is.  For example, is the difference between “OK” and
“Unhappy” the same as the difference between “Very Happy” and “Happy?”  We can’t say.
Ordinal scales are typically measures of non-numeric concepts like satisfaction, happiness,
discomfort, etc.

“Ordinal” is easy to remember because is sounds like “order” and that’s the key to
remembering with “ordinal scales”–it is the order that matters, but that’s all you really get
from these.
Advanced note: The best way to determine central tendency on a set of ordinal data is to use
the mode or median; the mean cannot be defined from an ordinal set.

Interval time of day - equal intervals; analogue (12-hr.) clock, the difference between 1
and 2 pm is same as the difference between 11 and 12 am
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There is no objective distance between any two points on your subjective scale. For you the
top beer may be far superior to the second preferred beer but, to another respondent with
the same top and second beer, the distance may be subjectively small.

An ordinal scale only lets you interpret gross order and not the relative positional distances.
and statistics

Ordinal data would use non-parametric statistics. These would include:

Median & mode

rank order correlation
non-parametric analysis of variance
Modelling techniques can also be used with ordinal data.

Interval

Interval scales provide information about order, and also possess equal intervals. From the
previous example, if we knew that the distance between 1 and 2 was the same as that between
7 and 8 on our 10-point rating scale, then we would have an interval scale. An example of an
interval scale is temperature, either measured on a Fahrenheit or Celsius scale. A degree
represents the same underlying amount of heat, regardless of where it occurs on the scale.
Measured in Fahrenheit units, the difference between a temperature of 46 and 42 is the same
as the difference between 72 and 68. Equal-interval scales of measurement can be devised for
opinions and attitudes. Constructing them involves an understanding of mathematical and
statistical principles beyond those covered in this course. But it is important to understand the
different levels of measurement when using and interpreting scales.

Interval scales are numeric scales in which we know not only the order, but also the exact
differences between the values.  The classic example of an interval scale
is Celsius temperature because the difference between each value is the same.  For example,
the difference between 60 and 50 degrees is a measurable 10 degrees, as is the difference
between 80 and 70 degrees.  Time is another good example of an interval scale in which
the increments are known, consistent, and measurable.
Interval scales are nice because the realm of statistical analysis on these data sets opens up.
For example,
central tendency can be measured by mode, median, or mean; standard deviation can also be
calculated.
Like the others, you can remember the key points of an “interval scale” pretty easily.
“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.

Here’s the problem with interval scales: they don’t have a “true zero.”  For example, there is
no such thing as “no temperature.”  Without a true zero, it is impossible to compute ratios.
With interval data, we can add and subtract, but cannot multiply or divide.  Confused?  Ok,
consider this: 10 degrees + 10 degrees = 20 degrees.  No problem there.  20 degrees is not
twice as hot as 10 degrees, however, because there is no such thing as “no temperature” when
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it comes to the Celsius scale.  I hope that makes sense.  Bottom line, interval scales are great,
but we cannot calculate ratios, which brings us to our last measurement scale…

The standard survey rating scale is an interval scale.

When you are asked to rate your satisfaction with a piece of software on a 7 point scale, from
Dissatisfied to Satisfied, you are using an interval scale.

It is an interval scale because it is assumed to have equidistant points between each of the
scale elements. This means that we can interpret differences in the distance along the scale.
We contrast this to an ordinal scale where we can only talk about differences in order, not
differences in the degree of order.

Interval scales are also scales which are defined by metrics such as logarithms. In these cases,
the distances are note equal but they are strictly definable based on the metric used.

Interval scale data would use parametric statistical techniques:

Mean and standard deviation

Correlation - r
Regression
Analysis of variance
Factor analysis
Plus a whole range of advanced multivariate and modelling techniques

Remember that you can use non-parametric techniques with interval and ratio data. But non-
parametric techniques are less powerful than parametric ones.

Ratio

Finally, the fourth and highest scale of measurement is called a ratio scale.  A ratio scale
contains all three qualities and is often the scale that statisticians prefer because the data can
be more easily analysed.  Age, height, weight, and scores on a 100-point test would all be
examples of ratio scales.  If you are 20 years old, you not only know that you are older than
someone who is 15 years old (magnitude) but you also know that you are five years older
(equal intervals).  With a ratio scale, we also have a point where none of the scale exists;
when a person is born his or her age is zero.

A ratio scale is the top level of measurement and is not often available in social research.

The factor which clearly defines a ratio scale is that it has a true zero point.

The simplest example of a ratio scale is the measurement of length (disregarding any
philosophical points about defining how we can identify zero length).

The best way to contrast interval and ratio scales is to look at temperature. The Centigrade
scale has a zero point but it is an arbitrary one. The Fahrenheit scale has its equivalent point
at -32o. (Physicists would probably argue that Absolute Zero is the zero point for temperature
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but this is a theoretical concept.) So, even though temperature looks as if it would be a ratio
scale it is an interval scale. Currently, we cannot talk about no temperature - and this would
be needed if it were a ration scale.

Ratio scales are the ultimate nirvana when it comes to measurement scales because they tell
us about the order, they tell us the exact value between units, AND they also have an absolute
zero–which allows for a wide range of both descriptive and inferential statistics to be applied.
At the risk of repeating myself, everything above about interval data applies to ratio scales +
ratio scales have a clear definition of zero.  Good examples of ratio variables include height
and weight.
Ratio scales provide a wealth of possibilities when it comes to statistical analysis.  These
variables can be meaningfully added, subtracted, multiplied, divided (ratios).  Central
tendency can be measured by mode, median, or mean; measures of dispersion, such as
standard deviation and coefficient of variation can also be calculated from ratio scales.

In addition to possessing the qualities of nominal, ordinal, and interval scales, a ratio scale
has an absolute zero (a point where none of the quality being measured exists). Using a ratio
scale permits comparisons such as being twice as high, or one-half as much. Reaction time
(how long it takes to respond to a signal of some sort) uses a ratio scale of measurement --
time. Although an individual's reaction time is always greater than zero, we conceptualize a
zero point in time, and can state that a response of 24 milliseconds is twice as fast as a
response time of 48 milliseconds.

Ratio - 24-hr. time has an absolute 0 (midnight); 14 o'clock is twice as long from midnight as
7 o'clock

Applications

The level of measurement for a particular variable is defined by the highest category that it
achieves. For example, categorizing someone as extroverted (outgoing) or introverted (shy) is
nominal. If we categorize people 1 = shy, 2 = neither shy nor outgoing, 3 = outgoing, then we
have an ordinal level of measurement. If we use a standardized measure of shyness (and there
are such inventories), we would probably assume the shyness variable meets the standards of
an interval level of measurement. As to whether or not we might have a ratio scale of
shyness, although we might be able to measure zero shyness, it would be difficult to devise a
scale where we would be comfortable talking about someone's being 3 times as shy as
someone else.

Measurement at the interval or ratio level is desirable because we can use the more powerful

statistical procedures available for Means and Standard Deviations. To have this advantage,
oftenordinal data are treated as though they were interval; for example, subjective ratings
scales (1 = terrible, 2= poor, 3 = fair, 4 = good, 5 = excellent). The scale probably does not
meet the requirement of equal intervals -- we don't know that the difference between 2 (poor)
and 3 (fair) is the same as the difference between 4 (good) and 5 (excellent). In order to take
advantage of more powerful statistical techniques, researchers often assume that the intervals
are equal.

Summary
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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.

Scale Level Scale of Measurement Scale Qualities Example(s)

Magnitude
4 Ratio Equal Intervals Age, Height, Weight, Percentage
Absolute Zero
Magnitude
3 Interval Temperature
Equal Intervals

2 Ordinal Magnitude Likert Scale, anything rank ordered

1 Nominal None Names, Lists of words

Frequency tables
Frequency tables can be useful for describing the number of occurrences of a particular type
of datum within a dataset. Frequency tables, also called frequency distributions, are one of
the most basic tools for displaying descriptive statistics. Frequency tables are widely utilized
as an at-a-glance reference into the distribution of data; they are easy to interpret and they can
display large data sets in a fairly concise manner. Frequency tables can help to identify
obvious trends within a data set and can be used to compare data between data sets of the
same type. Frequency tables aren't appropriate for every application, however. They can
obscure extreme values (more than X or less than Y), and they do not lend themselves to
analyses of the skew and kurtosis of the data.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_12000027_advantages-disadvantages-frequency-

table.html

Know the advantages and disadvantages of frequency distributions and graphs compared to
statistics to describe distributions. 
Tables and graphs are good for a quick, rough overview of a distribution and for comparisons
of distributions. They are especially useful to evaluate the shape of a distribution. They are
not as good as statistics to compare specific characteristics of distributions such as central
tendency (means) and variability (standard deviations)

Frequency distributions can:

C condense and summarize large amounts of data in a useful format
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C describe all variable types

C facilitate graphic presentation of data
C begin to identify population characteristics
C permit cautious comparison of data sets

. Know the advantages and disadvantages of grouping and situations when grouping
may be helpful. 
Grouping data allows characteristics of the data to be more easily interpreted than would be
true if the raw data were to be examined. Grouping does not result in as much loss of detail as
describing groups with one statistic such as a mean of standard deviation.

Grouping does lose precision and any graphs, tables, or statistics generated from grouped
data will not be as exact as if raw data would be used. With computers, grouped data should
not be used for computing statistics. The primary use for grouped data is for making graphs
or tables.

Grouping is especially helpful when a researcher wants to make a frequency distribution

and/or a graph and there are a large number of variable values. The number of subjects is not
a factor in deciding whether to group or not