SCALES OF

MEASUREMENT
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SCALES OF MEASUREMENT
Measurement is the foundation of research study, everything a researcher undertakes starts with
measurement. The mathematical properties of the variables we analyze are important because
they determine which mathematical operations are allowed. This, in turn, determines which
statistics we can use with those numbers. Statistical tests are applied depending on what scale the
variable measures on.
Scales of measurement are rules that describe the properties of numbers. Variables have different
numerical strength, based on their numerical strength a suitable scale of measurement is assigned
to the variables under study. In all, scales of measurement are characterized by four properties:
1. Identity means that each number has a particular meaning.
2. Magnitude means that numbers have an inherent order from smaller to larger.
3. Equal intervals means that the differences between numbers (units) anywhere on the scale
are the same (e.g., the difference between 4 and 5 is the same as the difference between 76
and 77).
4. Absolute/true zero means that the zero point represents the absence of the property being
measured (e.g., no money, no behavior, none correct).
 Scales of Measurement

Figure provide a diagrammatic view of the

scales of measurement. It shows that scales of
measurement work like a ladder, with Ratio
properties being added as you move up the
stairs, for instance for the variable to be on · Identification
Interval · Inherent Order
Ratio scale has to have all the properties of the · Equal Magnitude
· True Zero
scales below it.
Ordinal · Identification
· Inherent Order
· Equal Magnitude

Nominal · Identification
· Inherent Order

Identification
NOMINAL SCALE
1. It is the lowest scale of measurement. Values in the variable depict different categories. Numbers are assigned
to different categories while subjects are divided into various categories. Nominal scales are most often for
qualitative variables in which observations are classified into discrete groups.
2. Mathematical operation for nominal scale is mode, since we can only count the number of observations.
3. For instance respondents of the study would be divided into the male or female category where the researcher
could represent male by number 1 and female category by number 2. Here the assignment of number is for
mere identification of the categories for the variable gender.
4. Data collected by a researcher shows that they had 50 male represented by category number 1 and 35 female
represented by category number 2, Changing the number assigned to "male" and "female" does not have any
impact on the data, we still have the same number of men and women in the data set.
5. Which number is assigned to which category is completely arbitrary. Therefore, the only number property of
the nominal scale of measurement is identity. The number gives us the identity of the category assigned.
6. Another example of nominal scale could include Country of Origin (UK (1), USA (2), or Pakistan (3)), here
the numbers are only used for identification of the varying values the religion variable could hold.
ORDINAL SCALE
1. Next on the ladder is ordinal scale. An ordinal scale of measurement is one that conveys order alone. An
added property apart from identification is that variables in ordinal scale have magnitude. This scale indi­
cates that some value is greater or less than another value. There is an inherent ascending and descending
order in the probable values a variable could hold. Suitable mathematical operation for ordinal scale is
median since the variable in this category have the property of order.
2. Examples of ordinal scales include finishing order in a competition, education level, and rankings. These
scales only indicate that one value is greater or less than another, so differ­ences between ranks do not have
meaning. A researcher would like to collect data on Education Level of its respondents, where variable
education level can be Matriculation, Intermediate, Bachelors and Masters represented by 1, 2, 3 and 4
respectively.
3. Changing the number assigned to different education level will disrupt the inherent order and will have
serious impact on the data. For instance assigning 1 to Intermediate, 2 to Matriculation, 3 to Masters and 4
to Bachelors seriously damages the order and data would not communicate the information it needs to.
4. A few other examples of ordinal scale could include Positions (First: 1, Second: 2 and Third: 3), Job Ranks
(Supervisor: 1, Manager: 2, Senior Manager: 3). It is important to note that with ordinal scale the numbers
assigned have an association with the varying values.
INTERVAL SCALE
1. An interval scale measurement has the properties of identification, magnitude, and equal interval/
equidistant scales and no true zero. An equidistant scale is a scale distributed in units that are equidistant
from one another. The equal distance between scale points allows us to know how many units greater than,
or less than, one case is from another on the measured characteristic. So, we can always be confident that
the meaning of the distance between 25 and 35 is the same as the distance between 65 and 75. Interval
scales DO NOT have a true zero point; the number "0" is arbitrary.
2. A good example of an interval scale is the measurement of temperature on Fahrenheit or Celsius scales. The
units on a thermometer represent equal volumes of mercury between each interval on the scale. The
thermometer identifies for us how many units of mercury correspond to the temperature measured. We
know that 60° is hotter than 30° and that there is the same 10-degree difference in temperature between 20°
and 30° as between 50° and 60°. Zero degrees on either scales is an arbitrary number and not a "true" zero.
The zero point does not indicate an absence of temperature; it is an arbitrary point on the scale.
3. Other examples of interval scale include Age or Likert scales such as Agreement Scale (1: Strongly
Disagree, 2: Disagree, 3: Neutral, 4: Agree 5: Strongly Agree) or Satisfaction Scale (1: Strongly
Dissatisfied, 2: Dissatisfied, 3: Neutral, 4: Satisfied, 5: Strongly Satisfied) are measured on interval scale.
RATIO
1. Ratio scales are similar to interval scales in that scores are distributed in equal units. Yet, unlike interval
scales, a distribution of scores on a ratio scale has a true zero. They have all the properties of an abstract
number system i-e Identity, Magnitude, Equal interval and True/Absolute zero. These properties allow us to
apply all of the possible mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) in data
analysis.
2. The absolute/true zero allows us to know how many times greater one case is than another. For variables
on a ratio scale, order is informative. This is an ideal scale in behavioral research because any mathematical
opera­tion can be performed on the values that are measured. Common examples of ratio scales include
money in the bank, return on investment, number of children, and years of education.
3. For example, a person earning 20000 and another earning 40000, so we could easily say that second person
is earning twice as much as the first person, however in case of interval scale if we take the example of
temperature we cannot say that 40 Degree Centigrade is twice as hot as 20 degree centigrade. Ratios are
also informative on this scale because a true zero is defined- it truly means nothing. Hence, it is meaningful
to state that 60 pounds is twice as heavy as 30 pounds.
SUMMARY
Table summarizes different Scales of measurement, the information they provide concerning the order, difference,
and ratio of numbers and the mathematical operation that can be undertake for each of the scales.

  Scales of Measurement
Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio
Properties Identity Identity Identity Identity
Magnitude Magnitude Magnitude
Equal Interval Equal Interval
True/Absolute Zero
Mathematical Count Rank/Order Addition Addition
Operations Subtraction Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Measure of Central Mode Median Mean Mean
Tendency