Assessment, Statistics, and Research

Behavioral scientists commonly refer to four types of measurement or scales. Understanding the types of measurement or scales is important because some numbers have limited applications and they are misused. The four types of measurement scales are as follows: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio. This information is taken from Chapter 5 of Applied Statistics: Concepts for Counselors Nominal Scale This is often called the naming scale. The numbers allow researchers to classify people as belonging in a group. The numbers cannot be added or ranked. If we were studying treatment of people with depression we might form two groups simply numbers 1 and 2 for those getting treatment and those on a waiting list for treatment. All people in the study have a number but the number is just a classification. Numbers on sports team players may represent positions. Ordinal Scale The ordinal scale is a ranking scale. Performance can be ranked in order of high to low. You can r