Cream Pack 3 Flashcards
Why is the level of measurement important?
Knowing the level of measurement helps you decide what descriptive statistics and which inferential statistical test is appropriate for your
data.
What are the 3 levels of measurement?
- nominal
- ordinal
- Interval
What is nominal level data?
Frequency counts in mutually exclusive categories.
Give an example of nominal level data
A researcher recording the frequency counts of people’s favourite colours.
What is ordinal level data?
Ordering data in a certain way. However the exact difference between each point on the scale is not known.
Give an example of ordinal level data
Ranking people’s test scores.
We know the position but not exactly how much better or worse each person is
What is interval level data?
Numbers that come from a scale of equal intervals.
Give an example of interval level data
Measuring people’s height in cm
Which is the three levels of measurement contains the most information?
Interval data
Which is the three levels of measurement contains the least information?
Nominal data
The number of words recalled by participants in each of two conditions: when they are given 30 seconds or
45 seconds to memorise them.
What level of measurement are implied in the data collected?
Ordinal or interval
The time taken in seconds for participants to read a script which is handwritten as opposed to typed.
What level of measurement are implied in the data collected?
Interval
A dental receptionist is asked to judge whether people in the waiting room are ‘calm’ ‘anxious’ ‘very anxious’ or ‘hysterical’
What level of measurement are implied in the data collected?
Nominal
Distance two participants stand apart when asked to take part in an intimate conversation, measured from photos.
What level of measurement are implied in the data collected?
Interval
What is ratio level of measurement?
A ratio scale of measurement is simply an interval scale in which it is impossible to get a negative value.
E.g. it is impossible to have a negative reaction time.
How can the levels of measurement be converted?
Interval data can be converted into ordinal or nominal data.
Ordinal data can be converted into nominal.
Every time we convert information is lost.
Nominal level data is made up of data in ‘mutually exclusive” categories. What are mutually exclusive categories?
Categories that do not overlap and only mean one thing.