Scale
A scale is a tool or mechanism by
which individuals are distinguished as to how they differ from one another on
the variables of interest to our study.
The
four scales that can be applied to the measurement of variables are the nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales.
1. A
nominal scale is one that
allows the researcher to assign subjects to certain categories or groups. The nominal scale highlights the
differences by classifying objects or persons into groups, and provides the
least amount of information on the variable.
Example:
What is your department?
A.
Production
B.
Sales
C.
Marketing
D.
Admin
2. An
ordinal scale not only
categorizes the variables in such a way as to denote differences among the
various categories, it also rank-orders the categories in some meaningful way. The
ordinal scale provides some
additional information by rank-ordering the categories of the nominal scale.
Apps
Ranking
What’s
up -
Face
book -
Viber -
LinkedIn -
3. An
interval scale allows us to
perform certain arithmetical operations on the data collected from the
respondents. The interval scale
not only ranks, but also provides us with information on the magnitude of the
differences in the variable.
Example: Strongly disagree Disagree Nothing
else Agree Strongly Agree
Pakistan will - -
- - -
win the match.
4. The
ratio scale not only measures
the magnitude of the differences between points on the scale but also taps the
proportions in the differences. The ratio
scale indicates not only the magnitude of the differences but also
their proportion.
Example:
Boys
– 20 and Girls – 30
Then the ratio will be 1: 1.5
Google Map is the common example of Ratio Scale.
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