Question

statistics) what is the level of measurement -

frequency of practicing breast self examination.

body weight in pounds and ounces

birth order

body temperature

this is in nirsing statistic

Answer 1

Let us first describe the levels of measurements.

There are four levels of measurement:

• Nominal
• Ordinal
• Interval
• Ratio

Nominal: It is the first level of measurement. It occurs when there is no inherent logical order among the categories and the names of the categories are purely nominal (nominal is Latin for name-only), i.e, the names do not have any numeric sense to them.

For example, classification of gender. There is no inherent superiority of one gender over other and hence it is purely a nominal level of measurement.

Ordinal: It is the second level of measurement. It occurs when there is an inherent logical order to the categories, but the difference between them is not significant.

For example, ranking of students' performance in an exam can be arranged on the basis of grade, but the difference between 1st and 2nd may not be the same as that between 2nd and 3rd, and hence the interval between categories is not significant.

Interval: It is the third level of measurement. Here there is an inherent order, as well as equal interval between two values. However, it lacks a natural zero.

For example, temperature in Celsius scale measures assigns arbitrary values of 0 and 100 to freezing and boiling points of water. This values are on itself not meaningful. The difference between them is divided into 100 equal intervals, whether or not they are inherently equal. There are temperatures lower than 0⁰C, and therefore it does not denote absolute lowest temperature.

Ratio: It is the fourth level of measurement. Here there is an inherent order to the values, equal intervals and a natural zero.

For example, a person's income. 0 dollars would mean a lack of money. Thus, in this scale, the 0 point makes numeric sense.

Based on this information, we can classify the given data into the following levels of measurements:

1. Frequency of practicing breast self examination: Ratio. The frequency is measured in days, weeks or months as appropriate which are units of time. Time is a ratio measurement as it has equal intervals, inherent order as well as a natural zero point.
2. Body weight in pounds and ounces: Ratio. This is also ratio, as pounds and ounces too have a natural zero point. 0 pounds would mean lack of any mass. The difference between values are significant as well.
3. Birth order: Ordinal. The order of birth can be distinctly seen. However the difference between first and second child may not be the same as second and third child. Hence, it is ordinal level of measurement.
4. Body temperature: Interval. Body temperature is measured in Farenheit scale. As explained earlier, this like the Celsius scale also has no natural zero. 0⁰F is not the lowest possible temperature. But the difference between the values is meaningful and hence it is interval level of measurement.