PSYB01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Level Of Measurement, Behavioural Sciences
Document Summary
Chapter 12: understanding research results: description and correlation. 2nd, stats used to make inferences on basis of sample data about a popln. Whenever a variable is studied, there"s an operational def"n of the variable and there must be. Levels of variable can be described using 1 of 4 scales of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. Scale used determines types of stats that are appropriate when results of a study are analyzed. Meaning of a particular score on a variable depends on which type of scale was used when variable was measured or manipulated. Levels of nominal scale are simply diff categories or groups; no numerical, quantitative properties. Most iv"s in expts are nominal (gender, eye colour, hand dominance, birth order, etc. ) Variables with ordinal scale levels involve minimal quantitative distinctions. Can rank order the levels of the variable being studied from lowest to highest. Interval and ratio scale variables have much more detailed quantitative properties.
