Levels of Measurement

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="12bf0f21egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="12c203c0.jpg" border=0 width="32" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#66334C" FACE="Arial" ><B>SOCIOLOGY 212: RESEARCH METHODS</B></FONT><B>      |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SOCIOLOGY 212: RESEARCH METHODS"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> back to<B>  </B><A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Articles / Overheads "><U><B>Articles / Overheads </B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="12af2f02egerdp.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alienation"><U>Alienation</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Applied"><U>Applied</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ch. 14 Stats Review"><U>Ch. 14 Stats Review</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Airline"><U>Airline</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Big Picture"><U>Big Picture</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ch. 9 Outline"><U>Ch. 9 Outline</U></A></div> <div> <B>Levels of Measurement</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id9.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="_"><U>--Type Title Here--</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Units of Analysis"><U>Units of Analysis</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="12df0f03.jpg"> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT</B></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="697" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 39 WIDTH="101"><div> <B>LEVEL</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="154"><div> <B>QUALITIES</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="154"><div> <B>EXAMPLE</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="130"><div> <B>WHAT YOU</B></div> <div> <B>CAN SAY</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="128"><div> <B>WHAT YOU</B></div> <div> <B>CAN'T SAY</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 132 ><NOBR><div> <B>Nominal</B></div> <div> (categories)</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="154"><div> Assignment of labels.  Classification.  Inherent Qualitative data -Words. No mathematical meaning.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="154"><div> Gender (male, female)</div> <div> Voting Record </div> <div> (republican, democrat)</div> <div> Religion</div> <div> Types of Crime</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="130"><div> Each observation belongs in its own category.  </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="128"><div> An observation represents “more' or “less” than another observation.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 153 WIDTH="101"><div> <B>Ordinal</B></div> <div> (add order, rank)</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="154"><div> Assignment of values along some underlying continuum.  Opinion measures, degree of something being measured.  Inherent Qualitative data.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="154"><div> Rank in college</div> <div> Order of finishing a race</div> <div> Strongly disagree to Strongly agree</div> <div> SES (Upper to Lower)</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="130"><div> One observation is ranked above or below another. Can't infer absolute quantity nor that distance between  any 2 levels is the same.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="128"><div> The amount that one variable is more or less than another.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 134 WIDTH="101"><div> <B>Interval</B></div> <div> (add spacing of equal intervals)</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="154"><div> Equal distances between points.  Inherent Quantitative data.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="154"><div> Intelligence test scores</div> <div> Temperature</div> <div> Crime Rates</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="130"><div> One score differs from another on some measure that has equally appearing intervals.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="128"><div> The amount of difference is an exact representation of differences on the variable being studied.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 76 ><NOBR><div> <B>Ratio</B></div> <div> (add true zero)</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="154"><div> Meaningful and non-arbitrary zero.  Inherent Quantitative data.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="154"><div> Age</div> <div> Weight</div> <div> Income</div> <div> Exam Scores</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="130"><div> One value is twice as much as another.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="128"><div> Not Much!</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>Sue is 20 years old and Mary is 40 years old.  Simple statement regarding Sue's and Mary's ages that illustrates each of the levels of measurement.</B></div> <div> <B>Nominal: </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Sue is young and Mary is old</FONT></div> <div> <B>Ordinal:</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  Sue is younger than Mary</FONT></div> <div> <B>Interval:</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  Sue is 20 years younger than Mary</FONT></div> <div> <B>Ratio:</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  Sue is twice as young as Mary</FONT></div> <bR> <div> What is your Employment Status?</div> <div>      1.  Not Employed</div> <div>      2.  Work a few hours per week - less than 20</div> <div>      3.  P/T - 20 to 29 hrs</div> <div>      4.  ¾ time - 30 to 39 hours</div> <div>      5.  F/T - 40 hrs or more</div> <bR> <div> What is your Employment Status?</div> <div>      1.  Work F/T</div> <div>      2.  Work P/T</div> <div>      3.  Student (not working)</div> <div>      4.  Retired</div> <div>      5.  Not employed (but not a student)</div> <bR> <div> Region          Region of interview</div> <div>                1.  New England               5.  South Atlantic               9.  Pacific</div> <div>                2.  Middle Atlantic               6.  East South Central</div> <div>                3.  East North Central               7.  West South Central</div> <div>                4.  West North Central          8.  Mountain</div> <bR> <div> Sex          Sex of Respondent</div> <div>                1.  Male</div> <div>                2.  Female</div> <bR> <div> Age          Age (Determined by asking date of birth, actual ages recorded).  Values reflect actual age.</div> <bR> <div> Age3          Age variable recoded into thirds</div> <div>                1.  18-33</div> <div>                2.  34-51</div> <div>                3.  52-89</div> <bR> <div> Attend          How often do you attend religious services? (recoded into four categories)</div> <div>                1.  Less than once a year</div> <div>                2.  Once a year through several times a year</div> <div>                3.  About once a month through almost weekly</div> <div>                4.  Every week or more</div> <bR> <div> Sibs          How many brothers and sisters did you have?  Please count those born alive, but no longer </div> <div>           living, as well as those alive now.  Also include stepbrothers and stepsisters, and children </div> <div>           adopted by your parents.</div> <div>                Values reflect actual number of siblings</div> <bR> <div> SIBS3          SIBS, number of siblings, recoded into thirds</div> <div>                1.  0 to 2</div> <div>                2.  3 to 4</div> <div>                3.  5 or more</div> <bR> <div> PartyID     Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as a:</div> <div>                1.  Democrat</div> <div>                2.  Independent</div> <div>                3.  Republican</div> <div>                4.  Other, please specify _______________</div> <bR> <div> Polviews     I'm going to show you a 7 pt.scale on which the political views that people might hold are </div> <div>           arranged from extremely liberal to extremely conservative.  Where would you place yourself?</div> <div>      1.  Extremely liberal                    5.  slightly conservative</div> <div>      2.  liberal                         6.  conservative</div> <div>      3.  slightly liberal                    7.  extremely conservative</div> <div>      4.  moderate, middle of the road          8.  Missing, don't know</div> <div>                                    9.  Missing, no answer</div> <bR> <div> Childs          How many children have you ever had?  Please count all that were born alive at any time </div> <div>           (including any you had from a previous marriage).</div> <div>                0 to 7  Actual number (e.g. 3 means 3 children)</div> <div>                8.  Eight or more</div> <div>           </div> <div> Income          In which of the following groups did your total family income, from all sources, fall last </div> <div>           year before taxes, that is?</div> <div>                1.   Under $1,000     9.   10,000 to 14,999</div> <div>                2.   1,000 to 2,999     10. 15,000 to 19,999</div> <div>                3.   3,000 to 3,999     11. 20,000 to 24,999</div> <div>                4.   4,000 to 4,999     12. 25,000 or over</div> <div>                5.   5,000 to 5,999     13.  Refused </div> <div>                6.   6,000 to 6,999     14.  Missing, don't know</div> <div>                7.   7,000 to 7,999     15.  Missing, no answer</div> <div>                8.   8,000 to 9,999     </div> <bR> <div> RealInc     Family income in constant dollars</div> <bR> <div> RealInc     RealInc variable recoded into thirds</div> <div>                1.  Low</div> <div>                2.  Moderate</div> <div>                3.  High</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>