Types of Data & Measurement Scales: Nominal, Ordinal,

Interval and Ratio

November 28, 2012 - Data Analysis - Tagged: data analysis, statistics - 122 comments

There are four measurement scales (or types of data): nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. These
are simply ways to categorize different types of variables. This topic is usually discussed in the
context of academic teaching and less often in the real world. If you are brushing up on this
concept for a statistics test, thank a psychologist researcher named Stanley Stevens for coming
up with these terms. These four measurement scales (nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio) are
best understood with example, as youll see below.

Nominal
Lets start with the easiest one to understand. Nominal scales are used for labeling variables,
without any quantitative value. Nominal scales could simply be called labels. Here are
some examples, below. Notice that all of these scales are mutually exclusive (no overlap) and
none of them have any numerical significance. A good way to remember all of this is that
nominal sounds a lot like name and nominal scales are kind of like names or labels.
Examples of Nominal Scales

Note: a sub-type of nominal scale with only two categories (e.g. male/female) is called
dichotomous. If you are a student, you can use that to impress your teacher.

Continue reading about types of data and measurement scales: nominal, ordinal, interval, and
ratio

Ordinal
With ordinal scales, it is the order of the values is whats important and significant, but the
differences between each one is not really known. Take a look at the example below. In each
case, we know that a #4 is better than a #3 or #2, but we dont knowand cannot quantifyhow
much better it is. For example, is the difference between OK and Unhappy the same as the
difference between Very Happy and Happy? We cant say.

Ordinal scales are typically measures of non-numeric concepts like satisfaction, happiness,
discomfort, etc.

Ordinal is easy to remember because is sounds like order and thats the key to remember
with ordinal scalesit is the order that matters, but thats all you really get from these.

Advanced note: The best way to determine central tendency on a set of ordinal data is to use the
mode or median; the mean cannot be defined from an ordinal set.

Example of Ordinal Scales

Interval
Interval scales are numeric scales in which we know not only the order, but also the exact
differences between the values. The classic example of an interval scale is Celsius temperature
because the difference between each value is the same. For example, the difference between 60
and 50 degrees is a measurable 10 degrees, as is the difference between 80 and 70 degrees. Time
is another good example of an interval scale in which the increments are known, consistent, and
measurable.

Interval scales are nice because the realm of statistical analysis on these data sets opens up. For
example, central tendency can be measured by mode, median, or mean; standard deviation can
also be calculated.

Like the others, you can remember the key points of an interval scale pretty easily. Interval
itself means space in between, which is the important thing to rememberinterval scales not
only tell us about order, but also about the value between each item.

Heres the problem with interval scales: they dont have a true zero. For example, there is no
such thing as no temperature. Without a true zero, it is impossible to compute ratios. With
interval data, we can add and subtract, but cannot multiply or divide. Confused? Ok, consider
this: 10 degrees + 10 degrees = 20 degrees. No problem there. 20 degrees is not twice as hot as
10 degrees, however, because there is no such thing as no temperature when it comes to the
Celsius scale. I hope that makes sense. Bottom line, interval scales are great, but we cannot
calculate ratios, which brings us to our last measurement scale

Example of Interval Scale

Ratio
Ratio scales are the ultimate nirvana when it comes to measurement scales because they tell us
about the order, they tell us the exact value between units, AND they also have an absolute zero
which allows for a wide range of both descriptive and inferential statistics to be applied. At the
risk of repeating myself, everything above about interval data applies to ratio scales + ratio scales
have a clear definition of zero. Good examples of ratio variables include height and weight.

Ratio scales provide a wealth of possibilities when it comes to statistical analysis. These
variables can be meaningfully added, subtracted, multiplied, divided (ratios). Central
tendency can be measured by mode, median, or mean; measures of dispersion, such as standard
deviation and coefficient of variation can also be calculated from ratio scales.

This Device Provides Two Examples of Ratio Scales (height and weight)

Summary
In summary, nominal variables are used to name, or label a series of values. Ordinal scales
provide good information about the order of choices, such as in a customer satisfaction survey.
Interval scales give us the order of values + the ability to quantify the difference between each
one. Finally, Ratio scales give us the ultimateorder, interval values, plus the ability to calculate
ratios since a true zero can be defined.
summary of data types and scale measures

Thats it! I hope this explanation is clear and that you know understand the four types of data
measurement scales: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio!

econdly there is the notion of scale, of which statisticians distinguish four kinds:

nominal scales: the observation of the variable results in one of a set of

characteristics or attributes, rather than a numerical value. The word "nominal"
comes from the word "name", meaning that the observations will be names rather
than numerical values. Nominal scales result in qualitative data. Examples of
nominal scales are:

flavor (for example, the choice of ice cream purchased by a randomly selected
customer might be chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, etc. There is no numerical or
quantitative relationship between these flavors: we can't say that vanilla is twice as
much as chocolate or that vanilla is five more than chocolate, etc.)
gender (possibilities usually are just "male" or "female")
species or variety (if we're talking about, say, lettuce plants, the observed variety
might be romaine, buttercrunch, iceberg, leaf, etc.)
genetic phenotypes
Although people sometimes use numerical codes to label such attributes (for example,
we might record ice cream flavors as 1 = chocolate, 2 = vanilla, 3 = strawberry, etc.),
these numerical codes are still just names, not values. We know this is so, because in
this particular example, it makes no sense to talk about flavor 2.5 being halfway
between vanilla and strawberry, for instance. Nominal scales have no natural ordering
from least to greatest, or smallest to biggest, or even some intrinsic notion of first to
last.

ordinal scales: the possible observations of the variable form a set which has a
natural order -- the observations can be ranked in some order. Ordinal scales can
result in either qualitative or quantitative data. Purely ordinal scales are not as
common in technical applications as the other three because usually, the natural
order is a result of numerical value, and so the data really belongs to the last two
types described below. However, a couple of simple examples of an ordinal scale
are:

alphabetic order
sets of levels (for example, a school student is classified as being in grade 1, or
grade 2, or grade 3, etc. There's no implication that a student in grade 2 knows
twice as much stuff as a student in grade 1 (though it is true that a student
completing grade 2 has completed one grade more than a person completing grade
1, and so in this sense, the grade level completed can be regarded as an interval
scale). However, there is a notion of increasing knowledge and skill as one
progresses from one grade to the next through the system.)
numerical categories (for example, rather than record the actual weight gain of
mice on a particular diet -- which would result in a ration scale, see below -- we
might simply categorize the observations as weight loss, no change, small gain,
moderate gain, and large gain. These five possibilities represent an increase amount
of weight gain, but only indicate relative ranking, not precise relative size.)
rating scales (you see these in surveys where you are asked to select responses to a
sentence from the set of strongly disagree, disagree, no opinion, agree, strongly
agree, etc.)

Ordinal scales are most often used in biological applications when it is not possible or
feasible to work with either an interval or a ratio scale, but the data reflects some
sort of ordering or size property.

interval scales form the first of two distinctly numerical or quantitative scales. In
an interval scale, differences between observed values have significance, but their
ratio does not. Another way of saying this is that interval scales do not have a true
zero. Examples of interval scales are:

the celsius (or fahrenheit) temperature scales. A temperature difference between

400 and 200 is the same as the temperature difference between 700 and 500 (for
 example, it would take as much heat to raise the temperature of some water from
200 to 400 as it would to raise the temperature of that water from 500 to 700).
However, it does not make sense to speak of 400C as being twice as hot as 200C. Nor
does it make sense to talk of a temperature of 00C indicating the absence of
temperature or the absence of heat.
time scales are interval scales.

ratio scales are interval scales that also have a natural zero, so that ratios of
values (and not just differences between values) are meaningful. Examples are:

concentrations (a 2 M solution is twice as concentrated as a 1 M solution. A 0 M

solution indicates a solution containing no solute.)
measurements of size relative to some standard (for example, measurements of
length in meters. A plant 1.5 m tall is twice as tall as a plant which is 0.75 m tall. A
mouse which weighs 36 g is twice as heavy as a mouse which weighs just 18 g.)

Like interval scales, ratio scales are always numerical.

In brief summary, we can say:

a nominal scale consists of an unordered set of qualitative "values"

an ordinal scales looks like a nominal scale, but with the possible "values" having a
meaningful or natural ordering from first to last, or least to greatest, etc.
an interval scale looks like an ordinal scale (has ordering), but with the differences
between possible values also being meaningful
a ratio scale looks like an interval scale, but with the ratios of possible values also
being meaningful.

Nominal

The name 'Nominal' comes from the Latin nomen, meaning 'name' and nominal data are items
which are differentiated by a simple naming system.

The only thing a nominal scale does is to say that items being measured have something in
common, although this may not be described.
Nominal items may have numbers assigned to them. This may appear ordinal but is not -- these
are used to simplify capture and referencing.

Nominal items are usually categorical, in that they belong to a definable category, such as
'employees'.

Example
The number pinned on a sports person.

A set of countries.

Ordinal

Items on an ordinal scale are set into some kind of order by their position on the scale. This may
indicate such as temporal position, superiority, etc.

The order of items is often defined by assigning numbers to them to show their relative position.
Letters or other sequential symbols may also be used as appropriate.

Ordinal items are usually categorical, in that they belong to a definable category, such as '1956
marathon runners'.

You cannot do arithmetic with ordinal numbers -- they show sequence only.

Example
The first, third and fifth person in a race.

Pay bands in an organization, as denoted by A, B, C and D.

Interval

Interval data (also sometimes called integer) is measured along a scale in which each position is
equidistant from one another. This allows for the distance between two pairs to be equivalent in
some way.

This is often used in psychological experiments that measure attributes along an arbitrary scale
between two extremes.

Interval data cannot be multiplied or divided.

Example
My level of happiness, rated from 1 to 10.

Temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit.

Ratio

In a ratio scale, numbers can be compared as multiples of one another. Thus one person can be
twice as tall as another person. Important also, the number zero has meaning.

Thus the difference between a person of 35 and a person 38 is the same as the difference between
people who are 12 and 15. A person can also have an age of zero.

Ratio data can be multiplied and divided because not only is the difference between 1 and 2 the
same as between 3 and 4, but also that 4 is twice as much as 2.

Interval and ratio data measure quantities and hence are quantitative. Because they can be
measured on a scale, they are also called scale data.

Example
A person's weight

The number of pizzas I can eat before fainting

Parametric vs. Non-parametric

Interval and ratio data are parametric, and are used with parametric tools in which distributions
are predictable (and often Normal).

Nominal and ordinal data are non-parametric, and do not assume any particular distribution.
They are used with non-parametric tools such as the Histogram.

Continuous and Discrete

Continuous measures are measured along a continuous scale which can be divided into fractions,
such as temperature. Continuous variables allow for infinitely fine sub-division, which means if
you can measure sufficiently accurately, you can compare two items and determine the
difference.

Discrete variables are measured across a set of fixed values, such as age in years (not
microseconds). These are commonly used on arbitrary scales, such as scoring your level of
happiness, although such scales can also be continuous.

See also

Variables in research, Parametric vs. non-parametric tests