Variables Scales of Measurement
Variables Scales of Measurement
Variables Scales of Measurement
Moazzam Ali
Assistant Professor
Department of English
University of Gujrat
Concepts
Concepts are highly subjective as their understanding varies
from person to person, and therefore, may not be
measurable. In a research study it is important that the
concepts used should be operationalised in measurable terms
so that the extent of variation in respondents’ understanding
is reduced not eliminated.
Concept is a generalized idea about a class of objects,
attributes, occurrences, or processes.
Measurability is the main difference between a concept and a
variable. A concept cannot be measured whereas a variable
can be subjected to measurement.
Concept—an Abstraction of Reality
Honesty, sincerity, morale are all concepts that label to some
phenomenon (reality)
They are abstractions that exist only as mental images of things
we want to talk about. To do research, we have to convert
concepts to things we can observe. We do this by defining
concepts in terms of measurable variables.
Measurement is a process of ascertaining the extent or quantity
of the concept, idea, or construct.
Concepts, Indicators & Variables
Impact Age
Quality Weight
Variables and Attributes
An attribute is a specific value on a variable. For instance, the variable
sex or gender has two attributes: male and female. Attributes are what social
scientists measure to describe a variable.
Attributes are the observable characteristics of variable; variables are the
logical combinations of attributes. Male and female, for example, are the
attributes of the variable we call gender. The numbers of persons in a
household, from 1 to perhaps 20 or more, represent the attributes of the
variable, household. Similarly, the variable agreement might be defined as
having five attributes:
1 = strongly disagree;
2 = disagree;
3 = neutral;
4 = agree;
5 = strongly agree
Variables & Attributes
Variable Attributes
Management, psychology,
Student’s major
chemistry
Extent of smoking
Smoking Cancer
Extent of Exercise Quality of Tobacco
1. Nominal
2. Ordinal
3. Interval
4. Ratio
Nominal Scale
A nominal scale of measurement classifies cases into
categories that have no quantitative ordering. It simply
defines groups of the subjects. The values are given different
names, hence the term nominal.
Example: Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Christian
Nominal Scale
□ Below 30,000
□ 30,100 to 50,000
□ 50,100 and above
Interval Scale
An interval scale has units measuring intervals of equal distance
between values on the scale.
Ordinal scales permit us to rank cases in terms of a variable; we
can, for example, say that one case is ‘better’ or ‘stronger’ than
another. But an ordinal scale does not allow us to say by how much
a case is better or stronger when compared with another and the
distances – intervals – between the categories are unknown.
So, we not only can say that one case has more (or less) of the
variable in question than another, but we can also say how much
more (or less). Thus someone who is 25 years old has 7 years
more age than someone who is 18 years old; we can measure the
interval between them. Moreover, the intervals between points
on the scale are of equal value over its whole range.
Ratio Scale
A ratio scale has a value of zero indicating cases where no quantity
of the variable is present.
A ratio variable, has all the properties of an interval variable, and
also has a clear definition of 0.When the variable equals 0.0, there
is none of that variable.
Notice that an observation of 0 years represents a case which
possesses no quantity of the variable ‘Years at School’. Such a
condition is known as a true zero point and is the defining
characteristic of a ratio scale, as opposed to an interval scale.
However, heat measured in degrees Celsius does not have a ‘true’
zero. There is a zero point, but 0°C does not indicate a case where
no heat is present – it is cold but not that cold! Instead, 0°C
indicates something else: the point at which water freezes.
Levels of Measurement
Thanks