Levels of measurement

Nominal data

shows categories of data represented by frequencies, the data sets have no relative numerical value e.g. boys and girls

Nominal data evaluation

Advantage- quick to collect and analyse

Disadvantage- lacks detail about each individual participant

Ordinal data

can be placed into ascending or descending order but intervals between data are not equal e.g. 1st 2nd 3rd place in a race

Ordinal data evaluation

advantage- easy to collect and analyse

disadvantage- lacks detail so only basic comparisons can be made

Interval data

has equal intervals between scores e.g. 1-2 degrees is the same as 21-22 degrees

Interval data evaluation

advantage- very detailed as participants cannot just be ranked

disadvantage- more time consuming to collect as you need precise information abour each participant

Ratio data

has equal intervals between scores and has a true zero e.g. speed

Ratio data evaluation

advantage- very detailed as participants cannot just be ranked

disadvantage- more time consuming to collect as you need precise information about each participant