NOMINAL MEASUREMENT
Measurement & Assessment of
Quantitative Data
• The research that you are undertaking at
present is called quantitative research.
• Quantitative researchers gather empirical
evidence.
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
- evidence that is rooted in objective reality
and gathered directly or indirectly through the
senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch or smell)
- is grounded on reality rather than the
researcher’s personal belief
• Usually, in a quantitative study, the
information gathered is numeric and is a
result of some type of formal measurement.
• To study a phenomenon, quantitative
researchers attempt to measure
information that is analyzed with
statistical procedures.
• Although there are accurate measures of
PHYSIOLOGIC PHENOMENA (like blood
pressure, and body temperature),
comparably accurate measures of
PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENA (like
patient morale, pain, or self-esteem) that
have been developed are not yet
standardized and widely used.
• Nursing research tends to focus on human
beings and traditional quantitative methods
typically focus on a relatively small portion
of the human experience (e.g., weight gain,
depression, chemical dependency) in a
single study.
MEASUREMENT
• Quantitative studies derive data through the
measurement of variables.
MEASUREMENT
- involves the assignment of numbers to
represent the amount of an attribute present in
an object or person, using a specified set of
rules
- involves assigning numbers to objects
according to rules, rather than haphazardly
• Rules for measuring temperature, weight,
blood pressure, and other physical attributes
are familiar to us.
VARIABLE (or quantitative characteristic)
- one in which alternate forms are numerical
values, e.g., age, income, height
ATTRIBUTE (or qualitative characteristic)
- one in which the alternative forms are
qualitative categories, e.g., sex, occupation,
religion
ADVANTAGES OF MEASUREMENT
1. Measurement removes subjectivity and
guesswork.
2. Measurement also makes it possible to
obtain reasonably precise information.
3. Measurement is a language of
communication.
LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT
4 commonly used scales in classifying data:
1. Nominal
2. Ordinal
3. Interval
4. Ratio
NCM 115 • Nursing Research 2
INTERVAL MEASURES
• Measurement is at its weakest level exists
when words or other symbols are used to
classify a person’s or an object’s
characteristic.
NOMINAL MEASUREMENT
- the lowest level of measurement and is used
primarily for grouping or categorizing data
Sometimes, numbers are assigned to nominal
measurements, but these numbers are used
only to classify characteristics into
categories.
Example: If we classify subjects as males and
females, and assign 1 for males and 2 for females,
the numbers have no inherent meaning.
• The numbers used in nominal measurement
cannot be treated mathematically.
• There is no sense in calculating the
average gender, for example, of a group of
people.
• The numeric codes assigned in nominal
measurement do not convey quantitative
information.
Examples: Student number; Social security No.;
PIN
• Nominal measures must have categories
that are mutually exclusive and collectively
exhaustive.
MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
- means that each observed characteristic
must be classifiable into one, and only one,
category
COLLECTIVELY EXHAUSTIVE
- means that all the possible categories have
been considered (including the most-used
‘Others’ category)
ORDINAL MEASUREMENT
ORDINAL MEASUREMENT
- involves sorting objects on the basis of
their relative standing on an attribute
• The attributes are ordered or ranked
according to some criterion.
Examples: First, second, third
Small, medium, large;
Strongly agree, agree, somewhat agree,
disagree and strongly disagree;
• Ordinal measurement does not, however,
tell us anything about how much greater
one rank is than another.
• What we know is the order, but not the
difference.
• As with nominal scales, the types of
mathematical operations permissible with
ordinal-level data are limited.
• Averages are usually meaningless with rank-
order measures.
APPROPRIATE FOR ANALYZING ORDINAL-
LEVEL DATA:
 Frequency counts
 Percentages
 Other statistical procedures
INTERVAL MEASUREMENT
INTERVAL MEASUREMENT
- one where the variables or attributes can
assume equivalent distance between them
- more informative than ordinal measures,
but interval measure do not give information
about absolute magnitude
• In an interval scale, numbers can be
meaningfully added, subtracted and can
be averaged. These cannot be done with
ordinal measures.
RATIO MEASUREMENT
RATIO MEASUREMENT
- the highest level of measurement
- has a rational, meaningful zero value
• Because ratio scales have an absolute
zero, all arithmetic operations are
permissible.
• The four levels of measurement constitute
a hierarchy, with ratio scales at the top
and nominal measurement at the bottom.
• Moving from a higher to a lower level of
measurement results in information loss.
• A HIGHER LEVEL OF MEASUREMENT
yields more information and are
amenable to more powerful analyses
than a lower level.
ERRORS OF MEASUREMENT
• An observed (or obtained) score almost
always contains an error of measurement.
• When researchers measure an attribute,
they are also measuring attributes that are
not of interest.
The most common factors that contribute
to errors of measurement are:
1. SITUATION CONTAMINANTS. Scores
can be affected by the conditions under
which they are produced.
Examples:
A respondent’s awareness of an observer’s
presence.
Other environmental factors, such as
temperature, lighting, and time of day
2. TRANSITORY PERSONAL FACTORS.
Example: Temporary personal states like
fatigue, hunger, anxiety, or mood can
influence a person’s score
3. RESPONSE-SET BIASES.
Example: Relatively enduring
characteristics of respondents such as
social desirability, acquiescence, and
potential problems
4. ADMINISTRATION VARIATIONS.
Example: Interviewers may improvise
question wording (especially during
translation)
SJMN
5. INSTRUMENT CLARITY.
Example: Different respondents may interpret
the same question differently
6. ITEM SAMPLING.
Example: The choice of items to be used in the
measure
7. INSTRUMENT FORMAT. Technical
characteristics of an instrument can
influence measurement.
Example: Open-ended questions may yield
different information than closed-ended ones.
• Rules for measuring many other variables for
nursing research studies, however, have to
be invented.
• The most widely used of these scales is the
Likert scale
LIKERT SCALE
- very useful when you need data on
emotions, perceptions, opinions, and belief
systems, whereby the responses are lined up
on a 3-, 5-, or 7-point scale from Agree to
Disagree
• Some bi-polar scales might not always be
‘agree/disagree’ but might be ‘true/never
true,’ ‘extremely likely/extremely unlikely,’
always/never’ and so on.
Reliability & Validity of Research
Instruments
RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
- scientific and systematic tools which are
designed in order to help the researcher
collect, measure, and analyze data related to
the topic of the research
- can include questionnaires, interviews,
tests, surveys, scales, or checklists
Two primary criteria for assessing a  Content validity
quantitative research instrument are:
 Reliability
 validity
RELIABILITY
RELIABILITY
- the degree of consistency or accuracy with
which an instrument measures an attribute
- the extent to which an experiment, test, or any
measuring procedure gives the same result on
repeated trials, every time
- (or precision) refers to the repeatability of a
measure, i.e., the degree of closeness
between repeated measurements of the same
value
- addresses the question: “If the same thing is
measured several times, how close are the
measurements to each other?”
• The higher the reliability of an instrument, the
lower the amount of error in obtained results.
3 key aspects of reliability:
 Stability
 Internal consistency
 Equivalence
STABILITY (Test-Retest Reliability)
- an aspect of reliability that indicates if a test
is stable over time, i.e., that the results do not
change over time
- answers the question: “Will the scores be
stable over time?”
NCM 115 • Nursing Research 2
• A test or measure is administered.
• Some time later the same test or measure
is re-administered to the same or highly
similar group.
• One would expect that the reliability
coefficient will be highly correlated.
INTERNAL CONSISTENCY
- refers to the extent to which all the
instrument’s items are measuring the same
attribute
- answers the question: “How well does each
item measure the content or construct under
consideration?”
- an indicator of reliability for a test or measure
which is administered once
• An instrument may be said to be internally
consistent to the extent that its items
measure the same trait.
EQUIVALENCE (Parallel Forms Reliability)
- refers to the accuracy of observing ratings and
classifications
- answers the question: “Are the two forms of
the test or measure equivalent?”
• If different forms of the same test or measure
are administered to the same group; one
would expect that the reliability coefficient will
be high.
VALIDITY
VALIDITY
- the degree to which an instrument
measures what it is supposed to measure.
- refers to the degree of closeness between a
measurement and the true value of what is
being measured
- addresses the question: “How close is the
measured value to the true value?”
key aspects of validity:
 Face validity
 Criterion-related validity
 Construct validity
FACE VALIDITY
- refers to whether the instrument appears or
looks as thought it is measuring the
appropriate construct
CONTENT VALIDITY
- concerns the degree to which an instrument
has an appropriate sample of items for the
construct being measured
CRITERION-RELATED VALIDITY
- involves determining the relationship between
an instrument and an external criterion
CONSTRUCT VALIDITY
- an instrument’s adequacy in measuring the
focal construct
- addresses the key questions: “What is this
instrument really measuring?”
“Does it really measure the abstract concept
of interest?”
REMEMBER!
• Reliability and validity are not independent
qualities of an instrument.
• A measuring device that is unreliable
cannot possibly be valid.
• A measure cannot be valid without being
reliable.
• An instrument cannot validly measure an
attribute if it is inconsistent and
inaccurate.
SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY
SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY
- criteria that are important in evaluating
instruments designed as screening
instruments or diagnostic aids
- measures of a test's ability to correctly
classify a person as having a disease or
not having a disease
SENSITIVITY
- the ability of an instrument to identify a
‘case’ correctly, that is, to screen or
diagnose a condition correctly
- the ability of a test to correctly identify
patients with a disease, or true positives.
TRUE POSITIVE - the person has the
disease and the test is positive
SPECIFICITY
- the instrument’s ability to identify ‘non-
cases’ correctly, that is, to screen out those
without the condition correctly
- the ability of a test to correctly identify
people without the disease
- the rate of yielding ‘true negatives’
SCREENING
- refers to the application of a medical
procedure or test to people who, as yet,
have no symptoms of a particular disease, for
the purpose of determining their likelihood of
having the disease
- The screening procedure itself does not
diagnose the illness.
Analysis of Likert Scale Data
• The results of a single item answered on
the Likert response format was never
meant to be analyzed in isolation.
• A common practice of researchers is to ask
dozens of Likert response items that are
not related in a questionnaire then analyze
each question individually.
• Unfortunately, this is not really acceptable
from a statistical format.
• Instead, LIKERT RESPONSE
QUESTIONS are designed to be
analyzed as a grouped Likert score.
• A good solution when analyzing Likert data
is to design a survey containing a
number of Likert questions that all point
in the same direction.
• The group of Likert questions is then
analyzed together.
LIKERT SCORE
- formed by a grouping of these Likert
questions with others of a similar topic
• This is the original use of the Likert
• Combined, the items are used to provide
a quantitative measure of a character or
personality trait.
• Typically, the researcher is only
interested in the composite score that
represents the character/personality trait.
SJMN
LIKERT SCALE DATA FREQUENCY COUNTS
- analyzed and created by calculating a Inferential Statistics
composite score (sum or mean) from the
• From the data in the questionnaire, simple
questions or statements INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
tables can be made with frequency counts for
each variable. - provide a means for drawing conclusions
Example: Supposing we wanted to find out how about a population, given data from a
significant Valentine’s Day is to our respondents. sample.
We decided to measure the significance using a 5- FREQUENCY COUNT
- an enumeration of how often a certain - researchers estimate population
point Likert scale and assigned points as follows:
measurement or a certain answer to a specific parameters from sample statistics
Highly disagree (HD) ---------------- 1 point question occurs
Slightly disagree (SD) --------------- 2 points In quantitative research:
Neither agree nor disagree (N) -- 3 points Example:
Slightly agree (SA) ------------------ 4 points
Highly agree (HA) -------------------- 5 points

TEST OF HYPOTHESIS

TEST OF HYPOTHESIS
- a statistical procedure for deciding whether
to accept or to reject the hypothesis
The questionnaires were answered by 50 • If numbers are large enough, it is better to
based on the sample observations
respondents and their responses were tallied, calculate the frequency distribution in
resulting in the following data: percentages (relative frequencies).
• There are many different tests for the many
different kinds of data. A way to get started
For instance, (51/144) x 100 = 35% are
is to understand what kind of data you
smokers and (93/144) x 100 = 65% nonsmokers.
have.
• Tests of hypothesis answer the questions:
• This makes it easier to compare groups than
1. Is there a difference between two or more
when only absolute numbers are given.
samples, or two or more sets of data?
• In other words, PERCENTAGES
standardize the data.
Number of Respondents
HD SD N SA HA
(1 pt) (2 pts) (3 pts) (4 pts) (5 pts)
Total CROSS-TABULATIONS
9 12 0 14 15 50
3 7 1 17 22 50 • Further analysis of the data usually requires
4 6 0 11 29 50
13 12 1 10 14 50
the combination of information on two or
11 16 2 12 9 50 more variables in order to describe the
problem or to arrive at possible explanations
Weighted mean for it.
[(9)(1)+(12)(2)+(0)(3)+(14)(4)+(15)(5)] ÷ 50 = 3.28 • For this purpose, it is necessary to design
[(3)(1) + (7)(2) + (1)(3) + (17)(4) + (22)(5)] ÷ 50 = 3.96
[(4)(1) + (6)(2) + (0)(3) + (11)(4) + (29)(5)] ÷ 50 = 4.10
cross-tabulations (or ‘cross-tabs’ for short). 2. Is there a relationship between one
[(13)(1) + (12)(2) + (1)(3) + (10)(4) + (14)(5)] ÷ 50 = 3.00
variable and another variable?
[(11)(1) + (16)(2) + (2)(3) + (12)(4) + (9)(5)] ÷ 50 = 2.84 Example:

COMPOSITE MEAN
- sum of all the weighted mean ÷ no. of
statements = 3.44

The next step is to interpret the composite The test of hypothesis, however, is not
mean based on the Likert scale that was necessary in a research study when:
created. However, the Likert scale has to be 1. There was no sampling done (i.e., the data
modified first into: gathered are for the whole population)
• If a dependent and an independent variable 2. The research is descriptive in nature (e.g.,
Composite Weighted are cross-tabulated, the headings of the a study to determine the factors affecting a
Average
Highly disagree 1.00 - 1.79 dependent variable are usually placed certain phenomenon)
Slightly disagree 1.80 - 2.59 horizontally, and the headings of the
Neither agree nor disagree 2.60 - 3.39 independent variable, vertically. general rule of thumb for sample size:
Slightly agree 3.40 - 4.19  At least 20% of the size of the population,
Highly agree 4.20 - 5.00
Example:  At least 30 subjects or observations (or, 30
pairs), whichever is higher.
Therefore, the composite mean of 3.44 is
interpreted as “Slightly agree.” SMALL SAMPLE
- historically, any sample which is composed
There are also modified scales for the of less than 30 subjects (or pairs)
interpretation of scores from the 3-point, 4-point,
and 7-point Likert. LARGE SAMPLE
These are available from the Internet, or may be - a sample of 30 or more
constructed manually.
Some practical hints when constructing
tables: • Most quantitative research studies use
Descriptive Data Analysis large samples.
• All tables should have a clear title and clear • While each test of hypothesis uses a
headings for all rows and columns. different procedure for a small and a large
DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS (of quantitative data) • All tables should have a separate row and a sample, what we are more concerned in
- involves the production and interpretation of separate column for totals to enable you to research are the methods for large
frequencies, tables, graphs, etc., that describe check if your totals are the same for all samples.
the data variables and to make further analysis easier.
• All tables related to a certain objective should Some well known statistical tests and
be numbered and kept together so the procedures for research observations are:
work can be easily organized and the writing 1. Student’s t-test
of the final report will be simplified. 2. Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
NCM 115 • Nursing Research 2 SJMN
3. Pearson product-moment correlation
coefficient
4. Chi-square test
5. Mann-Whitney U test
6. Wilcoxon matched-pair signed-rank test
7. Kruskal-Wallis test
8. Spearman rank correlation
Hypothesis Testing Procedure
• The overall process of testing hypotheses is
basically the same.
The steps are as follows:
1. State your hypotheses
2. Establish the level of significance
3. Select a test statistic
4. Compute the selected test statistic; calculate
the degrees of freedom (if needed)
5. Select a one-tailed or two-tailed test
6. State the test criterion.
7. Obtain a table value for the statistical test
8. Compare the test statistic with the table value
9. State your conclusion
STEP 1. STATE YOUR HYPOTHESIS
a. State your null hypothesis (symbolized by H0
and read ‘H sub zero’).
NULL HYPOTHESIS
- states that no difference (or no relationship)
exists between research variables, and that
any observed difference (or relationship) is due
to chance
- a statement of ‘no difference’ or ‘no change’
or ‘no effect’
b. Then, state your alternative hypothesis
(symbolized by HA and read ‘H sub A’).
ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS
- a statement of inequality and is the opposite
of the null hypothesis
- H0 is not proven, but accepted or rejected
- Accepting H0 automatically rejects HA
- Conversely, rejecting H0 automatically accepts
HA.
STEP 2. ESTABLISH THE LEVEL OF
SIGNIFICANCE
LEVEL OF SIGNIFICANCE (referred to as
alpha or α)
- the maximum risk or probability of making
a Type I error
- signifies the probability of rejecting a true
null hypothesis
- The two most frequently-used significance
levels are 0.05 and 0.01.
The 0.05 level means that in only 5 out of
every 100 samples (or only 5%) would the
null hypothesis be rejected when it should
have been accepted.
α = 0.05
- is frequently used in research
- sometimes referred to as the ‘default alpha’
Meaning, if the level of significance is not
specified, then it is taken and understood to be
equal to 0.05.
NCM 115 • Nursing Research 2
STEP 3. SELECT A TEST STATISTIC • Research reports often state that the
results were statistically significant (p <
• Should a parametric or a nonparametric 0.05) or make some similar statement.
test be used? • Researchers and statisticians generally
• Which level of measurement will be used? agree on the following conventions for
• How many groups are being compared? interpreting p- values.
• Are you interested in establishing a p-Value Interpretation
difference or a relationship? Result is not significant;
usually indicated by no
PARAMETRIC TESTS p > 0.05 asterisk or an ‘ns’
superscript to the right of
Researchers more often use parametric tests the p-value (ns).
and these are characterized by three attributes: Result is significant;
p < 0.05 usually indicated by one
asterisk (*).
 They involve the estimation of a parameter
(population mean; population deviation).
 They require measurements on an interval • Researchers and statisticians generally
or ratio scale. agree on the following conventions for
 They assume that the variables are normally interpreting p- values.
distributed in the population.
p-Value Interpretation
NONPARAMETRIC TESTS Result is highly significant;
- do not estimate parameters p > 0.01 usually indicated by two
asterisks (**).
- usually applied when data have been
Result is very highly
measured on a nominal or ordinal scale significant; usually
- do not assume a normal distribution, and p < 0.001
indicated by 3 asterisks
for this reason, they are sometimes called (***).
DISTRIBUTION- FREE STATISTICS
• Parametric tests are preferred because they
are more powerful; that is, they are more
strict in rejecting an H0 that is not true.
STEP 4. COMPUTE THE SELECTED
TEST STATISTIC
STEP 9. STATE YOUR CONCLUSION
 Identify the appropriate computational
formula and compute using the traditional Was there a difference (or relationship)
longhand method between the variables?
or CONCLUSION
- usually stated in terms of the accepted
 Use a computer-calculated statistic using hypothesis, using such statements as:
the Statistical Package for the Social • There is evidence to support the claim
Sciences (SPSS). that…
• There is enough reason to believe that
• Calculate the degrees of freedom (if needed) there exists…
• We have sufficient reason to believe that…
DEGREES OF FREEDOM (symbolized as df) • Sample data suggest that…
- a concept that refers to the number of • Statistical evidence at hand indicates
observations that are free to vary about a that…
parameter • Statistical evidence suggest that…
• There is sufficient statistical data to support
STEP 5. SELECT A ONE-TAILED OR that there is…
TWO-TAILED TEST
t-Test for Independent Groups
STEP 6. STATE THE TEST CRITERION
PARAMETRIC TESTS
STEP 7. OBTAIN A TABLE VALUE FOR
THE STATISTICAL TEST • A common research situation involves
comparing the groups of subjects.
• There are theoretical distributions for all • Usually, the arithmetic means of the groups
test statistics. are compared.
• Researchers have only to select the
appropriate table where a critical value TESTING THE DIFFERENCES
can be obtained for a specific df and α. BETWEEN TWO GROUP MEANS
STEP 8. COMPARE THE TEST 2 common statistical tests used to test the
STATISTIC WITH THE TABLE VALUE significant difference between group means:
 Student’s t-test
 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
• For most tests, if the computed test
statistic is greater than the table value, the
H0 is rejected, and the HA is automatically T-TEST FOR INDEPENDENT GROUPS
accepted, meaning the results are
statistically significant. t-TEST
• The computer software SPSS usually - the most powerful parametric test for
summarizes the result of a hypothesis test calculating the significant difference
into one particular value: THE P-VALUE. between sample means
- reliable not only for large samples, but for
small samples, as well
SJMN
For independent groups, the test statistic, t0, is c. Use a two-tailed test.
calculated using the general formula: d. Reject H0 if the computed t0 > table value of
tα
e. From table of t-values: tα = 2.101 for α = 0.05
and df = 18

Table of critical t- values at a = 0.05 (two-

tailed):

with df = n1 + n2 - 2

where:
x1 = mean of group 1
x2 = mean of group 2
|x1 - x2| = absolute value of the difference
between the two means
s1 = standard deviation of group 1
observations
s2 = standard deviation of group 2
observations
n1 = number of subjects in group 1 (sample size
of group 1)
n2 = number of subjects in group 2 (sample size
of group 2)
n1 and n2 may or may not be equal

Example: Given the gains in weight (in lbs.) of

two groups of infants. One group of 10 infants
was breast-fed, while the other group of 10
infants was given powdered infant formula.

a. Perform a test of hypothesis to see whether

Since 0.9162 < 2.101, accept H0.
the two feeding methods were the same at a
significance level of 0.05.
Conclusion: There is no significant
difference between the mean gain in weights of
Solution:
the breast-fed infants and the infants given
powdered infant formula.
H0: There is no significant difference
between the mean gain in weights of the breast-
fed infants and the infants given powdered
infant formula. (or, µ1 = µ2 )

HA: There is a significant difference

between the mean gain in weights of the breast-
fed infants and the infants given powdered
infant formula. (or, µ1 ≠ µ2 )

b. Test at α = 0.05

Test statistic:

t0 = 0.9162
df = 10 + 10 - 2 = 18
NCM 115 • Nursing Research 2 SJMN