Discuss the primary scales of measurement (Table 8.1 in the text). Develop an example of each

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A nominal scale is one whose numbers serve only as labels or tags for identifying and classifying objects with a strict one-to-one correspondence between the numbers and the objects. For example, the numbers assigned to the respondents in a study constitute a nominal scale.

An ordinal scale is a ranking scale in which numbers are assigned to objects to indicate the relative extent to which the objects possess some characteristic. An ordinal scale allows you to determine whether an object has more or less of a characteristic than some other object, but not how much more or less. Thus an ordinal scale indicates relative position, not the magnitude of the differences between the objects. Common examples of ordinal scales include quality rankings, rankings of teams in a tournament, socioeconomic class, and occupational status.

In an interval scale, numerically equal distances on the scale represent equal values in the characteristic being measured. An interval scale contains all the information of an ordinal scale, but it also allows you to compare the differences between objects. A common example in everyday life is a temperature scale. In marketing research, attitudinal data obtained from rating scales are often treated as interval data.

A ratio scale possesses all the properties of the nominal, ordinal, and interval scales and, in addition, an absolute zero point. Thus, in ratio scales we can identify or classify objects, rank the objects, and compare intervals or differences. Common examples of ratio scales include height, weight, age, and money. In marketing, sales, costs, market share, and number of customers are variables measured on a ratio scale.