Levels of Measurement 3

Researchers wanted to collect data to show whether people aged 18 or over compared to under 18 demonstrate food preferences for salty snacks, while people under 18 demonstrated preferences for sweet snacks. What level of measurement is this?

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval

Answer explanation

The level of measurement in this question is nominal because it involves categorizing people into groups based on their age and food preferences (salty or sweet snacks). Nominal data is used for labeling and categorizing variables without any quantitative value or order.

A media company wanted to analyse the difference between males and females in terms of the amount of time spent watching TV. What level of measurement is this?

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval

Answer explanation

The level of measurement in this question is Interval because the dependent variable is the number of hours watching TV which is an objective measure.

A research group was interested in the correlation between the time mothers spend cuddling their babies in the first 24 hours after birth and self-reported ratings of attachment at 2 months. What level of measurement is ratings of attachment?

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval

Answer explanation

The level of measurement in this question is ordinal as self-reported attachment ratings are ranked data, as they can be ordered.

A teacher wants to know if there is a significant difference between the number of facts recalled when students are given a coloured fact-sheet and students given a black and white fact sheet. What level of measurement is this?

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval

Answer explanation

The level of measurement in this question is Interval. This is because the teacher is measuring (the dependent variable) the number of facts recalled, which is a quantitative variable. The difference between the numbers of facts recalled can be measured, hence it's an interval level of measurement.

A psychologist investigates the possible correlation between hours of sleep and reaction time. What level of measurement is this?

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval

Answer explanation

The level of measurement in this question is interval, as it involves a continuous numerical scale (hours of sleep) and a quantitative variable (reaction time).

Jamie is researching whether there is a link between age and drink preference. She asks for a sample of teachers and students to see whether they would choose a diet or full-sugar can of cola. What level of measurement is this?

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval

Answer explanation

The level of measurement in this question is nominal because it involves categorizing individuals based on their drink preference (diet or full-sugar cola) without any inherent order or ranking.

OCD patients are put into two groups, therapy and no therapy and after a month are asked to rate on a scale of 1-50 how much their symptoms have reduced. What level of measurement is this?

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval

Psychologists predicted that the removal of the hypothalamus could cause a change in the number of calories the rat consumed. What level of measurement is this?

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval

Mhariri collects self-reported happiness scores of her friends, before and after a yoga session. What level of measurement is this?

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval

Riley randomly allocated participants so half of them solved anagrams while playing music and the other half solved them in silence. What level of measurement is this?

• Nominal

• Ordinal

• Interval