Quanti - Level of Measurement Flashcards
What is measurement?
“process of assigning numbers or values to individuals’ health status, objects, events, or
situations using a set of rules”
Critical in quantitative research -> statistical analyses
Is the process of assigning a number
Want to evaluate measure and determine if it is trustworthy
What are the advantages of measurement?
Improves accuracy of results
What are the levels of measurement?
Ratio (Highest)
Interval
Ordinal
Nominal (Lowest)
Describe nominal scale:
- lowest of the four levels of measurement
- uses arbitrary numbers (eg. male = 1, female = 2)
RULES:
- Can’t be rank-ordered (one is not better than the other)
- Must be exclusive and exhaustive categories
What are exclusive and exhaustive categories?
exclusive: categories don’t overlap
exhaustive: everything can be classified, no leftovers
What to analyse for nominal scale?
Mode
- most frequency occurring
- may have multiple modes
Frequencies
- counts
- percentages
What is an ordinal scale?
- the order of numbers matters
- the categories can have UNEQUAL INTERVALS
RULE:
- categories can be RANKED
eg.
1 = <$25,000
2 = $25,000-$54,999
3 = $55,000 -$99,999
4 = >$100,000
e.g. pain level (mild: 1, moderate: 2, severe: 3)
What can be measured on an ordinal scale?
Level of education
Satisfaction rating
e.g. what is the highest degree or level of education you have completed?
high school: 1, bachelor’s degree: 2, master’s degree: 3, PhD or higher: 4
What to analyse for ordinal scale?
Median
- select the number that is exactly in the middle
- place the numbers in value order
Mode
- most frequency occurring
- may have multiple modes
Frequencies
- count
- percentage
What is an interval scale?
RULE:
- lacks a zero point or fixed beginning
- can’t count ratios
- order of numbers maters
- EQUAL NUMERICAL DISTANCES BETWEEN INTERVALS
- numerical value means something on the real number scale (smaller values mean smaller amounts & vice versa)
What can be measured on an interval scale?
- temperature (0deg does not indicate absence of temperature)
- SAT scores (400-1600)
- credit scores (300-850)
- satisfaction (LIKERT scale) - extremely dislike, dislike, neutral, like, extremely like
What to analyse for interval scale?
Median
- Select the number that is exactly in the middle
- place numbers in value order
Mode
- most frequency occurring
- may have multiple modes
Frequencies
- counts
- percentages
Mean
- average of all respondents’ answers
- addition
- subtraction
What is a ratio scale?
HIGHEST form of measurement
Ratio data analysed with greater precision and strength to determine significant relationships and differences
RULE:
- ABSOLUTE ZERO POINT- there is an absence of the attribute being measured
What can be measured on a ratio scale?
Weight (lost physical measures e.g. height, no. of children, etc)
Money
What to analyse for ratio scale?
Median
- Select the number that is exactly in the middle
- place numbers in value order
Mode
- most frequency occurring
- may have multiple modes
Frequencies
- counts
- percentages
Mean
- average of all respondents’ answers
- addition
- subtraction
- MULTIPLICATION
- DIVISION
