Levels of Measurement

The level of measurement refers to the relationship among the values that are assigned to the
attributes for a
variable. What
does that mean?
Begin with the
idea of the
variable, in this
example "party
affiliation." That
variable has a
number of
attributes. Let's
assume that in
this particular election context the only relevant attributes are "republican", "democrat", and
"independent". For purposes of analyzing the results of this variable, we arbitrarily assign the
values 1, 2 and 3 to the three attributes. The level of measurement describes the relationship
among these three values. In this case, we simply are using the numbers as shorter
placeholders for the lengthier text terms. We don't assume that higher values mean "more" of
something and lower numbers signify "less". We don't assume the the value of 2 means that
democrats are twice something that republicans are. We don't assume that republicans are in
first place or have the highest priority just because they have the value of 1. In this case, we
only use the values as a shorter name for the attribute. Here, we would describe the level of
measurement as "nominal".

Why is Level of Measurement Important?

First, knowing the level of measurement helps you decide how to interpret the data from that
variable. When you know that a measure is nominal (like the one just described), then you know
that the numerical values are just short codes for the longer names. Second, knowing the level
of measurement helps you decide what statistical analysis is appropriate on the values that
were assigned. If a measure is nominal, then you know that you would never average the data
values or do a t-test on the data.
There are typically four levels of measurement that are defined:

 Nominal
 Ordinal
 Interval
 Ratio

In nominal measurement the numerical values just "name" the attribute uniquely. No ordering
of the cases is implied. For example, jersey numbers in basketball are measures at the nominal
level. A player with number 30 is not more of anything than a player with number 15, and is
certainly not twice whatever number 15 is.

In ordinal measurement the attributes can be rank-ordered. Here, distances between attributes
do not have any meaning. For example, on a survey you might code Educational Attainment as
0=less than high school; 1=some high school.; 2=high school degree; 3=some college;
4=college degree; 5=post college. In this measure, higher numbers mean more education. But
is distance from 0 to 1 same as 3 to 4? Of course not. The interval between values is not
interpretable in an ordinal measure.

In interval measurement the

distance between
attributes doeshave meaning.
For example, when we measure
temperature (in Fahrenheit), the
distance from 30-40 is same as
distance from 70-80. The
interval between values is
interpretable. Because of this, it
makes sense to compute an
average of an interval variable,
where it doesn't make sense to do so for ordinal scales. But note that in interval measurement
ratios don't make any sense - 80 degrees is not twice as hot as 40 degrees (although the
attribute value is twice as large).
 Finally, in ratio measurement there is always an absolute zero that is meaningful. This means
that you can construct a meaningful fraction (or ratio) with a ratio variable. Weight is a ratio
variable. In applied social research most "count" variables are ratio, for example, the number of
clients in past six months. Why? Because you can have zero clients and because it is
meaningful to say that "...we had twice as many clients in the past six months as we did in the
previous six months."

It's important to recognize that there is a hierarchy implied in the level of measurement idea. At
lower levels of measurement, assumptions tend to be less restrictive and data analyses tend to
be less sensitive. At each level up the hierarchy, the current level includes all of the qualities of
the one below it and adds something new. In general, it is desirable to have a higher level of
measurement (e.g., interval or ratio) rather than a lower one (nominal or ordinal).

3.5 Simple Random Sampling and Other Sampling

Methods
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Sampling Methods can be classified into one of two categories:

 Probability Sampling: Sample has a known probability of being selected

 Non-probability Sampling: Sample does not have known probability of being selected as in
convenience or voluntary response surveys
Probability Sampling
In probability sampling it is possible to both determine which sampling units belong to which sample
and the probability that each sample will be selected. The following sampling methods are examples
of probability sampling:
1. Simple Random Sampling (SRS)
2. Stratified Sampling
3. Cluster Sampling
4. Systematic Sampling
5. Multistage Sampling (in which some of the methods above are combined in stages)
Of the five methods listed above, students have the most trouble distinguishing between stratified
sampling and cluster sampling.
Stratified Sampling is possible when it makes sense to partition the population into groups based on
a factor that may influence the variable that is being measured. These groups are then called
strata. An individual group is called a stratum. With stratified samplingone should:
 partition the population into groups (strata)
 obtain a simple random sample from each group (stratum)
 collect data on each sampling unit that was randomly sampled from each group (stratum)
Stratified sampling works best when a heterogeneous population is split into fairly homogeneous
groups. Under these conditions, stratification generally produces more precise estimates of the
 population percents than estimates that would be found from a simple random sample. Table
3.2 shows some examples of ways to obtain a stratified sample.
Table 3.2. Examples of Stratified Samples
Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
Population All people in U.S. All PSU intercollegiate All elementary students in the
athletes local school district

Groups (Strata) 4 Time Zones in the U.S. 26 PSU intercollegiate 11 different elementary
(Eastern,Central, teams schools in the local school
Mountain,Pacific) district

Obtain a Simple 500 people from each of the 5 athletes from each of 20 students from each of the
Random Sample 4 time zones the 26 PSU teams 11 elementary schools

Sample 4 × 500 = 2000 selected 26 × 5 = 130 selected 11 × 20 = 220 selected

people athletes students
Cluster Sampling is very different from Stratified Sampling. With cluster sampling one should
 divide the population into groups (clusters).
 obtain a simple random sample of so many clusters from all possible clusters.
 obtain data on every sampling unit in each of the randomly selected clusters.
It is important to note that, unlike with the strata in stratified sampling, the clusters should be
microcosms, rather than subsections, of the population. Each cluster should be heterogeneous.
Additionally, the statistical analysis used with cluster sampling is not only different, but also more
complicated than that used with stratified sampling.

Table 3.3. Examples of Cluster Samples

Example 1 Example 2 Example 3

Population All people in U.S. All PSU intercollegiate All elementary students in a
athletes local school district

Groups (Clusters) 4 Time Zones in the U.S. 26 PSU intercollegiate 11 different elementary
(Eastern,Central, teams schools in the local school
Mountain,Pacific.) district

Obtain a Simple 2 time zones from the 4 8 teams from the 26 4 elementary schools from
Random Sample possible time zones possible teams the l1 possible elementary
schools

Sample every person in the 2 every athlete on the 8 every student in the 4
selected time zones selected teams selected elementary schools
 Each of the three examples that are found in Tables 3.2 and 3.3 were used to illustrate how both
stratified and cluster sampling could be accomplished. However, there are obviously times when one
sampling method is preferred over the other. The following explanations add some clarification about
when to use which method.
 With Example 1: Stratified sampling would be preferred over cluster sampling, particularly if the
questions of interest are affected by time zone. For example the percentage of people watching a live
sporting event on television might be highly affected by the time zone they are in. Cluster sampling
really works best when there are a reasonable number of clusters relative to the entire population. In
this case, selecting 2 clusters from 4 possible clusters really does not provide much advantage over
simple random sampling.
 With Example 2: Either stratified sampling or cluster sampling could be used. It would depend on
what questions are being asked. For instance, consider the question "Do you agree or disagree that
you receive adequate attention from the team of doctors at the Sports Medicine Clinic when
injured?" The answer to this question would probably not be team dependent, so cluster sampling
would be fine. In contrast, if the question of interest is "Do you agree or disagree that weather
affects your performance during an athletic event?" The answer to this question would probably be
influenced by whether or not the sport is played outside or inside. Consequently, stratified sampling
would be preferred.
 With Example 3: Cluster sampling would probably be better than stratified sampling if each
individual elementary school appropriately represents the entire population as in aschool district
where students from throughout the district can attend any school. Stratified sampling could be used
if the elementary schools had very different locations and served only their local neighborhood (i.e.,
one elementary school is located in a rural setting while another elementary school is located in an
urban setting.) Again, the questions of interest would affect which sampling method should be used.
The most common method of carrying out a poll today is using Random Digit Dialing in which a
machine random dials phone numbers. Some polls go even farther and have a machine conduct the
interview itself rather than just dialing the number! Such "robo call polls" can be very biased
because they have extremely low response rates (most people don't like speaking to a machine) and
because federal law prevents such calls to cell phones. Since the people who have landline phone
service tend to be older than people who have cell phone service only, another potential source of
bias is introduced. National polling organizations that use random digit dialing in conducting
interviewer based polls are very careful to match the number of landline versus cell phones to the
population they are trying to survey.
Non-probability Sampling
The following sampling methods that are listed in your text are types of non-probability sampling
that should be avoided:
1. volunteer samples
2. haphazard (convenience) samples
Since such non-probability sampling methods are based on human choice rather than random
selection, statistical theory cannot explain how they might behave and potential sources of bias are
rampant. In your textbook, the two types of non-probability samples listed above are called
"sampling disasters."
Read the article: "How Polls are Conducted" by the Gallup organization available in Canvas.
The article provides great insight into how major polls are conducted. When you are finished reading
this article you may want to go to the Gallup Poll Web site, http://www.gallup.com, and see the
results from recent Gallup polls. Another excellent source of public opinion polls on a wide variety
of topics using solid sampling methodology is the Pew Reserach Center website
at http://www.pewresearch.org When you read one of the summary reports on the Pew site, there is a
link (in the upper right corner) to the complete report giving more detailed results and a full
description of their methodology as well as a link to the actual questionnaire used in the survey so
you can judge whether their might be bias in the wording of their survey.
It is important to be mindful of margin or error as discussed in this article. We all need to remember
that public opinion on a given topic cannot be appropriately measured with one question that is only
asked on one poll. Such results only provide a snapshot at that moment under certain
conditions. The concept of repeating procedures over different conditions and times leads to more
valuable and durable results. Within this section of the Gallup article, there is also an error: "in 95 out
of those 100 polls, his rating would be between 46% and 54%." This should instead say that in an
expected 95 out of those 100 polls, the true population percent would be within the confidence
interval calculated. In 5 of those surveys, the confidence interval would not contain the population
percent.