Which of the following is the level of measurement of the variable gender?
Show In statistics, we use data to answer interesting questions. But not all data is created equal. There are actually four different data measurement scales that are used to categorize different types of data: 1. Nominal 2. Ordinal 3. Interval 4. Ratio In this post, we define each measurement scale and provide examples of variables that can be used with each scale. The simplest measurement scale we can use to label variables is a nominal scale.
Some examples of variables that can be measured on a nominal scale include:
Variables that can be measured on a nominal scale have the following properties:
The most common way that nominal scale data is collected is through a survey. For example, a researcher might survey 100 people and ask each of them what type of place they live in. Question: What type of area do you live in? Possible Answers: City, Suburbs, Rural. Using this data, the researcher can find out how many people live in each area, as well as which area is the most common to live in. OrdinalThe next type of measurement scale that we can use to label variables is an ordinal scale.
Some examples of variables that can be measured on an ordinal scale include:
Variables that can be measured on an ordinal scale have the following properties:
Ordinal scale data is often collected by companies through surveys who are looking for feedback about their product or service. For example, a grocery store might survey 100 recent customers and ask them about their overall experience. Question: How satisfied were you with your most recent visit to our store? Possible Answers: Very unsatisfied, unsatisfied, neutral, satisfied, very satisfied. Using this data, the grocery store can analyze the total number of responses for each category, identify which response was most common, and identify the median response. IntervalThe next type of measurement scale that we can use to label variables is an interval scale.
Some examples of variables that can be measured on an interval scale include:
Variables that can be measured on an interval scale have the following properties:
The nice thing about interval scale data is that it can be analyzed in more ways than nominal or ordinal data. For example, researchers could gather data on the credit scores of residents in a certain county and calculate the following metrics:
RatioThe last type of measurement scale that we can use to label variables is a ratio scale.
Some examples of variables that can be measured on a ratio scale include:
Variables that can be measured on a ratio scale have the following properties:
Data that can be measured on a ratio scale can be analyzed in a variety of ways. For example, researchers could gather data about the height of individuals in a certain school and calculate the following metrics:
SummaryThe following table provides a summary of the variables in each measurement scale:
What level of measurement is gender?For example, gender and ethnicity are always nominal level data because they cannot be ranked. However, for other variables, you can choose the level of measurement.
Is gender nominal or ordinal?Gender is an example of a nominal variable because the categories (woman, man, transgender, non-binary, etc.) cannot be ordered from high to low. Olympic medals are an example of an ordinal variable because the categories (gold, silver, bronze) can be ordered from high to low.
What is the level of measurement of the variable?A variable has one of four different levels of measurement: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, or Ratio. (Interval and Ratio levels of measurement are sometimes called Continuous or Scale).
What type of variable measurement is gender male or female?Dichotomous variables are nominal variables which have only two categories or levels. For example, if we were looking at gender, we would most probably categorize somebody as either "male" or "female". This is an example of a dichotomous variable (and also a nominal variable).
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