Choosing the Correct Statistic

Levels of Measurement

When examining the relationship between variables, it is important to use the appropriate bivariate statistic, given the nature of the variables studied. In choosing this statistic, you must pay particular attention to the level of measurement used to assess both variables. This section briefly reviews the various levels of measurement that were discussed in Chapter 1 of this text. The following section will show how you can use the scale of measurement to identify the right statistic for a given research problem.

Chapter 1 described the four levels of measurement used with variables in social science research: nominal; ordinal; interval; and ratio. A variable measured on a nominal scale ...

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