Levels of Measurement and the Statistical Tests

LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT;

There are three different types of data: Nominal, Ordinal and Interval/Ratio

Nominal;

Nominal data is the simplist form and involves counting the number of times a variable is chosen or happens. Examples- how many men/women were there? Ainsworth's strange situation, whether students chose to eat an apple or a bag of crisps at break.

The data is usually collected in tally charts.

Ordinal;

Data can be ranked in order, with each value being greater/larger etc. than the one before. Rating scales are oftern used. Examples- Questionnaires; how much do you like cake on a scale of 1-5, I enjoy sport...Agree, neither agree nor disagree, Disagree, Placements in a race.

The data can be ordered easily but the gaps between each one is not mathmatical/they differ. One person's view of liking cake 2/5 may be eating it…