This document discusses the four levels of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. Nominal level involves categorical variables without numerical ordering. Ordinal level also involves categorical variables but with an ordering or ranking. Interval level involves variables where units differ by a certain amount, but the zero point is arbitrary. Ratio level also involves variables where units differ by a certain amount, and it possesses a true zero point. The document provides examples to illustrate each level of measurement and emphasizes that the level depends on the method rather than the property measured.

1. Presented by:
Jhianne Estacoja
BSA – 2A

2. Knowing what level of measurement each variable in your
research belongs to is highly important in order to conduct a
reliable and valid statistical analysis because the selection of
appropriate analysis can also depend on what level of
measurement your data has.
SIGNIFICANCE

3. FOUR
LEVELS
OF
MEASUREMENT
NOMINAL
ORDINAL
INTERVAL
RATIO

4. arises when we have variables that are categorical and
nonnumeric or where the numbers have no sense of ordering.
NOMINAL LEVEL
EX:
 Jersey Number
 Sex
 Marital status
 Religious Affiliation
 Room Number
 Zip Code

5. also deals with categorical variables like the nominal level, but
in this level ordering is important, that is the values of the
variable could be ranked.
ORDINAL LEVEL
EX:
 Social-economic status (Low-income, middle-income, high-income)
 Difficulty of questions in an exam (easy, moderate, difficult)
 Rank in class (top 1, top 2, top 3, etc.)
 Perceptions in Likert scale (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, Agree,
strongly agree)

6. SPECIAL NOTE
While there is a sense or ordering, there is no way to find out how
much “distance” there is between one category and another.
EX:
The difference between small and medium size may not be
the same as the difference between medium and large.

7. tells us that one unit differs by a certain amount of degree from
another unit. Knowing how much one unit differs from another is
an additional property of the interval level on top of having the
properties possessed by the ordinal level.
INTERVAL LEVEL

8. when measuring temperature in Celsius, a 10 degree difference has the
same meaning anywhere along the scale – the difference between 10
and 20 degree Celsius is the same as between 80 and 90 Celsius.
EX:
But, we cannot say that 80 degrees Celsius is twice as hot as 40 degrees
Celsius since there is no true zero, but only an arbitrary zero point. A
measurement of 0 degrees Celsius does not reflect a true “lack of
temperature.”

9. SPECIAL NOTE
Interval level allows addition and subtraction operations, but it
does not possess an absolute zero. Zero is arbitrary as it does not
mean the value does not exist. Zero only represents an additional
measurement point.
ABSOLUTE ZERO: entire absence of the variable
ARBITRARY ZERO: the value of 0 does not entail absence of
the variable.

10. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of a person.
EX:
We can tell not only which person ranks higher in IQ but also how much
higher he or she ranks with another, but zero IQ does not mean no
intelligence.

11. RATIO LEVEL
tells us that one unit differs by a certain amount of degree from
another unit.
Also tells us that one unit has so many times as much of the
property as does another unit.
Possesses a meaningful (unique and non-arbitrary, fixed zero
point and allows all arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division).

12. the existence of the zero point is the only difference between
ratio and interval level of measurement.
RATIO LEVEL
EX:
 Mass, Heights, Weights, Energy, Electric charge
Nearly all numerical variables have ratio level of measurement.
With mass as an example, the difference between 120 grams and 135 grams is
15 grams, and this is the same difference between 380 grams and 395 grams. A
measurement of 0 reflects a complete lack of mass.

13. Amount of money
EX:
We can say that 2,000 pesos is twice more than 1,000 pesos. In addition,
money has a true zero point: if you have zero money, this implies the
absence of money.

14. SPECIAL NOTE
The levels of measurement depend mainly on the method of
measurement, not on the property measured.
The weight of primary school students measured in kilograms
has a ratio level, but the students can be categorized into
overweight, normal, underweight, and in which case, the
weight is then measured in an ordinal level.

15. CHECKPOINT!
Identify the level of measurement for each of the variable.
Variable Level of
Measurement
LRN
Grade Level
Course in College
Volume of acid
Exam scores
GWA
Monthly Salary

16. CHECKPOINT!
Identify the level of measurement for each of the variable.
Variable Level of
Measurement
LRN Nominal
Grade Level Ordinal
Course in College Nominal
Volume of acid Ratio
Exam scores Ratio
GWA Ratio
Monthly Salary Ratio

17. CHECKPOINT!
Identify the level of measurement for each of the variable.
Variable Level of
Measurement
Body temperature
Length of time (in hours)
spent jogging
Sex (M or F)
Age (Number of years
you have been alive)
Pain threshold (0 to 10)
Favorite color
Shirt size

18. CHECKPOINT!
Identify the level of measurement for each of the variable.
Variable Level of
Measurement
Body temperature Interval
Length of time (in hours)
spent jogging
Ratio
Sex (M or F) Nominal
Age (Number of years
you have been alive)
Ratio
Pain threshold (0 to 10) Interval
Favorite color Nominal
Shirt size Ordinal