Examples

Interval scales may be either numeric or semantic. Study the examples below.

 

Examples of interval scales in numeric and semantic formats[1]

Please indicate your views on Balkan Olives by scoring them on a scale of 5 down to 1 (i.e. 5 = Excellent; = Poor) on each of the criteria listed
Balkan Olives are:						Circle the appropriate score on each line
Succulence	5	4	3	2	1
Fresh tasting	5	4	3	2	1
Free of skin blemish	5	4	3	2	1
Good value	5	4	3	2	1
Attractively packaged	5	4	3	2	1

 

 

Please indicate your views on Balkan Olives by ticking the appropriate responses below:
	Excellent	Very Good	Good	Fair	Poor
Succulent
Freshness
Freedom from skin blemish
Value for money
Attractiveness of packaging

Ratio Level

Ratio measurement data have all the characteristics of nominal-, ordinal-, and interval-level measures (e.g. names, order, and equal intervals), additionally the ratio between any two measurements is meaningful and there is at least a theoretical absolute zero.

 

The notion of absolute zero means that zero is fixed, and the zero value in the data represents the absence of the characteristic being studied. You can construct a meaningful fraction (or ratio) with a ratio variable. And operations such as multiplication and division become meaningful as well. For a ratio scale one can thus say "This value is double this other value".

 

Social variables of ratio measure include age, length of residence in a given place, number of organizations belonged to or number of church attendances in a particular time. With ratio data, a researcher can state that 180 pounds of weight is twice as much as 90 pounds. Most physical quantities, such as mass, length, volume or energy are measured on ratio scales; so is temperature measured in Kelvin, that is, relative to absolute zero.