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Level of measurement or scale of measure is a classification that describes the nature of information within the values assigned to variables. [1] Psychologist Stanley Smith Stevens developed the best-known classification with four levels, or scales, of measurement: nominal , ordinal , interval , and ratio .
The measurement of a property may be categorized by the following criteria: type, magnitude, unit, and uncertainty. [citation needed] They enable unambiguous comparisons between measurements. The level of measurement is a taxonomy for the methodological character of a comparison. For example, two states of a property may be compared by ratio ...
Various attempts have been made to produce a taxonomy of levels of measurement. The psychophysicist Stanley Smith Stevens defined nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales. Nominal measurements do not have meaningful rank order among values, and permit any one-to-one (injective) transformation.
For example, a scaling technique might involve estimating individuals' levels of extraversion, or the perceived quality of products. Certain methods of scaling permit estimation of magnitudes on a continuum, while other methods provide only for relative ordering of the entities. The level of measurement is the type of data that is measured.
It is when a Likert scale is symmetric and equidistant that it will behave more like an interval-level measurement. So while a Likert scale is indeed ordinal, if well presented it may nevertheless approximate an interval-level measurement. This can be beneficial since, if it was treated just as an ordinal scale, then some valuable information ...
Measurement uncertainty is a value associated with a measurement which expresses the spread of possible values associated with the measurand—a quantitative expression of the doubt existing in the measurement. [35] There are two components to the uncertainty of a measurement: the width of the uncertainty interval and the confidence level. [36]
(see Level of measurement) [11] He is the author of the operational theory of measurement, which “...in the broadest sense, is defined as the assignment of numerals to objects or events according to rules.” [12] In fact, the definition paraphrased Campbell's note from the Final Report of the so-called Ferguson's committee (joint committee ...
The concept of data type is similar to the concept of level of measurement, but more specific. For example, count data requires a different distribution (e.g. a Poisson distribution or binomial distribution) than non-negative real-valued data require, but both fall under the same level of measurement (a ratio scale).