Quantitative research goes for the use of statistics to analyze numerical data. There are so many concepts related to statistics, and one of them is related to levels of measurement. Scales of measurement refer to the various measures that researchers use in data analysis. Researchers have to analyze the data before drawing valuable conclusions. As per their importance, this article aims to discuss levels of measurement in detail.
What Are Levels of Measurement?
Following are the four levels of measurement:
Nominal Scale of Measurement
A nominal scale is a measurement scale where the numbers serve as tags or labels. The numbers themselves do not have any value. They are only used to identify or classify an object. The easiest of the four variable measurement scales is the nominal scale. Calculations on these variables will be useless because the options have no numerical value. Let’s elaborate with the help of an example.
Select the grade of uneasiness that you feel for the diseases.
- Minor
- Reasonable
- Severe
There are numbers, but they do not have any values. They are just acting as labels or tags for other options. The original answers are Minor, Reasonable and Severe.
Ordinal Scale of Measurement
The objective of this scale is clear from its name. Whenever you have to order your data, the use of an ordinal scale is ensured. There are two data types as qualitative and quantitative. The ordinal scale is used for qualitative data. An important thing related to this scale is that it cannot be used to find the data intervals. Whenever you come up with a question of ‘how much’, it will remain unanswered. As per the objective of data measurement, you need to select the correct scale. From objective to objective, the uses of the scale vary. It is not necessary that you have to use an ordinal scale whenever you come up with quantitative data. So, you have to be very careful in data measurement and its sequence.
Let’s have a look at the practical examples shared by top coursework helpers. These examples are as follows:
What is your income status for the past two years?
- High
- Average
- Low
- Very Low
Select your highest qualification level.
- Intermediate
- Bachelors
- Masters
- PhD
Interval Scale of Measurement
The interval scale of measurement is more like ordinal scale of measurement, but there is a difference for which you have to be very vigilant. In an ordinal scale, you are not bound to come up with a similar range of values. While the interval scale has to ensure equivalent values in all the designed intervals. For example, if one interval has a difference of 10 values, then all other intervals are supposed to fall for the same difference. Let’s make a question and relevant intervals to make it easy to understand.
Which temperature range is best for performing the test?
- 20°C to 30°C
- 30°C to 40°C
- 40°C to 50°C
Ratio Scale of Measurement
The ratio scale is used very frequently in advanced studies because of its informative nature. The best thing about the ratio scale is the use of variables. The purpose of this scale of measurement is to estimate the size of a particular factor, and there can be a precise dimension of the magnitude. This scale is the right identification of attributes of variables in a quantitative manner.
What Are Basic Guidelines for Levels of Measurement?
The following guidelines can help you in better use of different levels of measurement:
Selection of Levels of Measurement
When you have several levels of measurement, you need to come up with one which can help you meet the designed objectives of the study. Each level of measurement has different levels of precision. So, you can also select one level based on its precision. In this way, it becomes easy to decide which level can help you best.
Purpose
The main purpose of discussed levels of measurement is to define the accuracy of variables. For further facts, each level has separate details. As per the perspective of details you can use and recall these levels.
Characteristics
At the time of working on levels of measurement, you should have an in-depth idea of their characteristics. Without having an idea about its characteristics, you may get confused about the variables. From a broader perspective, the attributes of nominal scale are categorical. While the same attributes are there for the ordinal level of measurement. In both of these levels, you are not supposed to go for numbers. While, the interval and ratio level are continuous in nature which includes numbers.
Procedure to Use Levels of Measurement
The right details regarding the procedure of four levels of measurement play a significant role in defining the right ranking of values. The procedure of each level with example is already discussed in this article.
The Measure Of A Particular Level
At the time of using levels of measurement, you should be very alert about the thing that needs to be subjected to measurement. For the first time, it is not a big deal to commit mistakes, but you have to avoid them for further tasks by having proper research on them.
Information Level of Measurement
All four levels of measurement are connected with each other, and every next level is the advanced form of the previous one, so it is common to observe that students usually mix them. You can simply remove confusion by recognizing the ranks of measurement.
Role in Research
In research work, the use of statistical analysis is frequent in a quantitative as well as qualitative study, which demands high performance without any error. You can make sure its use in many software which demands accurate use of variables and attributes to make beneficial conclusions. While using these levels in research, you can ensure accurate results by contacting coursework writing services.
Concluding Lines
The guidelines about levels of measurement are mentioned above, which can help you with their right use. Their role, characteristics and several other important things are there to let reader get insights of all levels.
