MANUAL FOR STATISTICS FOR
NURSING RESEARCH: A
WORKBOOK FOR EVIDENCE-
BASED PRACTICE 4TH EDITION
BY Susan K. Groove, CHAPTER 1-
38 COMPLETE UPDATE.
,Statistics for Nursing Research: A Workbook for Evidence-
Based Practice
4th Edition | Grove & Cipher | Complete Detailed Chapters 1-8
Chapter 1: Identifying Levels of Measurement: Nominal,
Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Question 1.1
A researcher is collecting data on patients' blood types (A, B, AB, O). What level of
measurement is this variable?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: A) Nominal
Difficulty: Easy | Learning Objective: 1.1 | Page Reference: 3-4
Rationale: Blood types are categorical with no inherent order or ranking. They are
mutually exclusive categories, which is characteristic of nominal-level measurement.
Nominal data can only be classified and counted; arithmetic operations cannot be
performed.
Question 1.2
,A nurse researcher measures patients' pain levels using a 0-10 numeric rating scale
where 0 = no pain and 10 = worst possible pain. What level of measurement is this
scale?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: C) Interval
Difficulty: Medium | Learning Objective: 1.1 | Page Reference: 5-6
Rationale: Although pain is subjective, the 0-10 scale has equal intervals between
points and no true zero (0 does not mean absence of pain, only no pain reported).
Therefore, it is considered interval-level data in research contexts. The equal intervals
allow for calculation of means and standard deviations.
Question 1.3
A researcher collects data on patients' ages in years. What level of measurement is this
variable?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: D) Ratio
Difficulty: Easy | Learning Objective: 1.1 | Page Reference: 6
Rationale: Age in years has a true zero point (absence of age) and equal intervals
between values, making it ratio-level data. Ratio data allow for all arithmetic operations,
including meaningful ratios (e.g., a 40-year-old is twice as old as a 20-year-old).
Question 1.4
, A study measures patients' functional status using the New York Heart Association
(NYHA) Classification: Class I, II, III, and IV. What level of measurement is this variable?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: B) Ordinal
Difficulty: Easy | Learning Objective: 1.1 | Page Reference: 4-5
Rationale: NYHA classes can be rank-ordered from mildest (Class I) to most severe
(Class IV), but the intervals between classes are not equal. The difference between Class I
and Class II is not necessarily the same as between Class II and Class III. This is
characteristic of ordinal-level measurement.
Question 1.5
A researcher collects data on patients' marital status (single, married, divorced,
widowed). What level of measurement is this variable?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: A) Nominal
Difficulty: Easy | Learning Objective: 1.1 | Page Reference: 3-4
Rationale: Marital status consists of categories with no inherent order or ranking. The
categories are mutually exclusive, and no category is "higher" or "lower" than another,
making it nominal-level data.
Question 1.6