Types of Measurement

• There are 4 types of measurement most

often used in statistics:
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval
Ratio
 Nominal Measurement
• Nominal Measurement: the classification of
measurements into a set of categories
• The numbers produced by nominal
measurement are frequencies of occurrence
in the categories (e.g., 22 ducks, 12
chickens, 2 geese, etc)
• A second example is sex – 2 categories,
male and female
• Nominal measurement applies to qualitative
variables - elements are assigned to a
category because they possess one
characteristic or another.
• Nominal data is also termed qualitative
data.
 Ordinal Measurement
• Ordinal Measurement: the rank ordering of
elements on a continuum.
• Ordinal measurement does not measure the
amount of the variable - it represents the
individual’s placement in a continuum (or
ranking; e.g., the winner of a race is in
“first place”).
• It is important to note that the amount of variable
difference between rank position is not constant -
the difference in amount of talent between the 1st
and 2nd place finishers in a race cannot be
assumed to be the same as the difference in
amount of talent between the 5th and 6th place
finishers.
• Ordinal data can tell you that the person in 1st
place finished before the person in 3rd place, but
not by how much.
 Interval Measurement
• Interval Measurement: the assignment of
numerical quantity to the variable in a way that:
 the number assigned reflects the amount of the
variable.
 the size of the measurement unit remains
constant.
 the zero point is defined arbitrarily and does
not represent an absence of the property being
measured.
• The best example is temperature
40°C represents how hot something is (the
amount of heat it has).
The amount of change in temperature is the
same between 25°C - 26°C and 32°C - 33°C.
The zero point (0°C) is arbitrary - it represents
the point at which water freezes, not the
absence of temperature.
• Interval measurement can contain negative
numbers, whereas Nominal and Ordinal
Measurement do not.
 Ratio Measurement
• Ratio Measurement: The assignment of numerical
quantity to the variable in such a way that:
the number assigned reflects the amount of the
variable.
the size of the measurement unit remains
constant.
the zero point represents an absence of the
property being measured.
• The most common examples of ratio scale are
height, money, age, weight, etc.
• A ratio scale cannot produce negative numbers.
• Interval and ratio measurement are equivalent for
statistical purposes and are often referred to as
one thing (interval/ratio data)
 Summation Notation
• We commonly use the letters “X” and “Y” to
represent the variables we have measured.
• Upper case Greek letter sigma (Σ) is known as
the summation operator; it means “the sum of”
 Σ Example
• Suppose we keep a record for 6 days of every
time someone slips in the CAW Student Centre
Cafeteria (represented by X), the data may look
like this:
 Data Example
Day X
Mon 10
Tues 5
Weds 12
Thurs 11
Fri 21
Sat 28
 ΣX
• ΣX means the sum of all the X scores, so that:
 ΣX = X1 + X2 + X3 + ... XN
 = 10 + 5 + 12 + 11 + 21 + 28
 = 87
• Note: X1 means the first X score – XN means
the last X score
 (ΣX)2

• (ΣX)2 means the square of the sum (total all

numbers within parentheses and then square), so
that:
 (ΣX)2 = (X1 + X2 + X3 + ... XN)2
 = (10 + 5 + 12 + 11 + 21 + 28)2
 = (87)(87)
 = 7569
 ΣX 2

• ΣX 2 means the sum of the squares (square each

number and then sum), so that:
ΣX 2 = X1 2 + X2 2 + X3 2 + ... XN 2
 = 10 2 + 5 2 + 12 2 + 11 2 + 21 2 + 28 2
 = 100 + 25 + 144 + 121 + 441 + 784
 = 1615
 More Summation Notation
• Suppose you also keep track of the number
of pieces of garbage dropped on the floor of
the CAW Student Centre for the same days
as above (variable Y) and the data were as
follows:
 Example Data
Day X Y
Mon 10 210
Tues 5 160
Weds 12 245
Thurs 11 240
Fri 21 340
Sat 28 415
 ΣXY
• ΣXY means the sum of the products:
ΣXY= (X1)(Y1) + (X2)(Y2) + (X3)(Y3) + ...(XN)(YN)
 = (10)(210) + (5)(160) + (12)(245) +(11)(240) +
(21)(340) + (28)(415)
 = 2100 + 800 + 2940 + 2640 + 7140 + 11620
 = 27240
 Describing Data
• Averages: an average is a numerical value that
indicates the middle point or central region of the
raw data.
• Averages are sometimes referred to as measures of
central tendency.
 Averages
• 3 statistics are commonly termed averages:
Mode
Median
Mean
 Mode
• Mode: The most frequently occurring score.
A distribution with a single most frequently
occurring score is termed a unimodal (single
mode) distribution.
A distribution with 2 values that share the
quality of being most frequently occurring is
termed bimodal (2 modes).
• The mode does not take into account all of
the data - only the one most frequently
occurring score.
 Mode Example
Age of Students:
Age Frequency
18 14
19 85  In this example, the Mode is
20 58 19 as it has the highest
21 40 frequency
22 35
23 16
24 10
25 6
26 4
 Median
• Median: The middle point of the distribution, or
the score which bisects the distribution (divides it
into upper and lower halves).
• The median is based on the value of one or two
scores, and does not take into account all of the
data.
 Median
• If there are an ODD number of scores, the
median is the middle score:
1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 13, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23

Median = 13
There are 5 scores above the median, and 5
below.
 Median
• If there are an EVEN number of scores, the
median is the midpoint between the two
middle scores:
1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 13, 15, 17, 18, 23

Median = (8 + 13)/2 = 10.5
 Median
NOTE!
• When determining the median, you must
arrange the scores in ascending or
descending order first!
 Median
• When a distribution is viewed as area,
the median divides the total area in
half:

50% 50%

Median
 Arithmetic Mean
• Arithmetic Mean: the sum of the scores divided by
the number of scores (what is generally thought of
as the average).
 Mean
• The mean of a sample of X scores is
symbolized as 
X , which is said as “X bar”.
• The mean of a population of X scores is
symbolized by the Greek letter mu (µ).
 Mean
• The algebraic definition of the population
mean is as follows:

  X
N
N is used to refer to the number of scores in
the data set (termed population size).
 Sample Mean
• The algebraic definition of the sample mean
is as follows:

x
 X
n
n is used to refer to the number of scores in
the data set (termed sample size).
 Mean cont.
• The algebraic formula for the sample and
population mean is the same, (although some
terms have different formulae for samples and
populations).
 Mean cont.
• The mean is used as the measure of average
almost exclusively (rather than the mode or
median) because it is defined algebraically and
considers all the raw scores in the data set.
 Mean cont.
• In any group of scores, the sum of the deviations
from the mean equals zero:

X X- 
X n=6
3 3 - 5.50 = -2.50 
X = Σ X/n
5 5 - 5.50 = -0.50 
X = 33/6
9 9 - 5.50 = +3.50 
X = 5.50
2 2 - 5.50 = -3.50
8 8 - 5.50 = +2.50
6 6 - 5.50 = +0.50
ΣX = 33 Σ(X- 
X)= 0.00
Relative Characteristics of Averages
• If the distribution is symmetrical, the mean,
median, and mode have the same value.
• The longer tail of a non-symmetrical distribution
“pulls” the mean more than the mode and median.
• Therefore, the mean is more effected by outliers
(very large or very small data points) than are the
mode and median.
Relative Characteristics of Averages
• Relative positions of the mean and
median:

• Note: The mode is the highest point in the

distribution