Problems in measurement in behavioral sciences; levels of

measurement of psychological variables - nominal, ordinal,

interval and ratio scales

RICHA SINGH
IBS,LECTURER
 INTRODUCTION
In statistics and quantitative research methodology,
various attempts have been made to classify variables (or
types of data) and thereby develop a taxonomy of levels
of measurement or scales of measure.

The best known are those developed by the

psychologist Stanley Smith Stevens.

He proposed four types: nominal, ordinal, interval,

and ratio.
 Stevens proposed his typology in a 1946 Science article
titled "On the theory of scales of measurement".

In that article, Stevens claimed that all measurement in

science was conducted using four different types of
scales that he called "nominal," "ordinal," "interval," and
"ratio," unifying both "qualitative" (which are described
by his "nominal" type) and "quantitative" (to a different
degree, all the rest of his scales).
 Nominal scale
The nominal scales are used for labeling variables,
without any quantitative value. All nominal scales
are mutually exclusive (no overlap) and none of
them have any numerical significance
Numbers may be used to represent the variables
but the numbers do not have numerical value or
relationship.
 Cont..

Examples of these classifications include gender,

nationality, ethnicity, language, genre, style,
biological species etc.

Nominal scales were often called qualitative

scales, and measurements made on qualitative
scales were called qualitative data.
 Cont
The mode, i.e. the most common item, is allowed
as the measure of central tendency for the
nominal type. On the other hand, the median, i.e.
the middle-ranked item, makes no sense for the
nominal type of data since ranking is meaningless
for the nominal type.

Percentages can be used to determine or develop

a comparison of the classifications.
 Ordinal scale
The ordinal type allows for rank order (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
by which data can be sorted, but still does not allow for
relative degree of difference between them. Examples
include, on one hand, dichotomous data with
dichotomous (or dichotomized) values such as 'sick' vs.
'healthy' when measuring health, 'guilty' vs. 'innocent'
when making judgments in courts, 'wrong/false' vs.
'right/true' when measuring truth value, and, on the other
hand, non-dichotomous data consisting of a spectrum of
values, such as 'completely agree', 'mostly agree', 'mostly
disagree', 'completely disagree' when measuring opinion.
 The median, i.e. middle-ranked, item is allowed as the measure
of central tendency; however, the mean (or average) as the
measure of central tendency is not allowed. The mode is
allowed. Examples: Class rank and horse race results
There are two salient attributes of an ordinal scale. First, there
is an underlying quantitative measure on which the
observations differ. For class rank, this underlying quantitative
attribute might be composite grade point average, and for horse
race results it would be time to the finish line.
The second attribute is that individual differences individual on
the underlying quantitative measure are either unavailable or
ignored. As a result, ranking the horses in a race as 1st, 2nd,
3rd, etc. hides the information about whether the first-place
horse won by several lengths or by a nose.
 Interval Scale
The interval type allows for the degree of
difference between items, but not the ratio
between them.

Examples include Celsius temperature because

the difference between each value is the same.
For eg. The difference between 60 and 50 degrees
is a measurable 10 degrees as is the difference
between 80 and 70 degrees.
 The mode, median, and mean are allowed to measure
central tendency of interval variables, while measures
of statistical dispersion include range and standard
deviation.
The problem with interval scale is that they dont have
a true zero. In other words, 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. Eg. 10 degrees + 10 degrees=20
degrees can be done but 20 degree not twice as hot as
10 degrees cannot be done as there is no such things
as no temperature when it comes to Celsius scale
 Ratio scale
A ratio scale has the property of equal intervals
but also has a true 0 point.
As a result, one can multiply and divide as well as
add and subtract using ratio scales.
Most measurement in the physical sciences and
engineering is done on ratio scales.
Units of time (msec, hours), distance and length
(cm, kilometers), weight (mg, kilos), and volume
(cc) are all ratio scales.
 The geometric mean () and the harmonic
mean are allowed to measure the central
tendency, in addition to the mode, median, and
arithmetic mean.

All statistical measures are allowed because all

necessary mathematical operations are defined
for the ratio scale.
 Difficulties

Scientifically Studying Human Behavior: The

downstream" negative effects of measurement
deficiencies undermine the development and
rigorous testing of theory, thereby jeopardizing
prediction and explanation{two primary activities
of successful scientific disciplines.
 Generally, we embrace the development of theory
involving latent (unobservable) variables to
formalize lawful relations concerning the behavior
of living organisms.

Latent variables are illustrated, for example,

Frustration produces Aggression.

Both Frustration and Aggression are latent

variables, not directly observable.
 Because of the indispensable role observation
plays in empirical inquiry, the business of
measurement in behavioral science is very much
focused on clarifying and quantifying the links
between these unobservable latent variables and
the observable, manifest variables that represent
them, so that the relations among the former can
be tested, evaluated, revised, and further tested.
Aggression, for example, is a latent variable that
can be represented by many different observable
variables, some verbal (e.g., swearing), some
mental (plotting revenge), some physical (hitting or
slapping).
 Therefore, to test empirically the validity of an
hypothesis such as Frustration produces
Aggression, convincing links must first be forged
between the two latent variables and the
observable manifest variables used to represent
the latent ones.

Forging these links well is a primary concern of

measurement.
 Science is mainly about accounting for similarities in
the objects being studied and variables are the
primary reference frame for such accounting.
For behavioral scientists, lawful relations describe
similarities, not dissimilarities, in attributes that
characterize behavior.
The Frustration produces Aggression" example
implies similarities, at some level, in the way
frustrated people behave.
But different individuals actually manifest Aggression
in different ways just as different individuals are
Frustrated by different kinds of events.
 Questioning the Sanctity of Observable
Variables

The possibility that a given observable may have a

different significance for different persons, or that
different observables may signify the same thing
to different persons raises doubts about the
mindless aggregation of data in group designs.
 Psychologists rely a great deal on self-report in
one form or another. But the continuity in
meaning of even the same adjective as might be
used in self-ratings is not guaranteed.

Anxious means nervous to one person and eager

to another person.