Elsevier Comprehensive Updated Test Bank
📖 Chapter 1: Identifying Levels of Measurement: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio
COMPLETE (65 Questions)
SECTION A: MULTIPLE CHOICE (Questions 1-30)
1. Which level of measurement involves categories with no order and no numerical value?
A) Ordinal
B) Interval
C) Nominal
D) Ratio
Answer: C) Nominal
Rationale: Nominal data represent categories only without any order (e.g., gender, blood type,
ethnicity). There is no numerical meaning to the categories, only classification.
2. Which level of measurement allows ranking of categories but does NOT have equal intervals?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: B) Ordinal
Rationale: Ordinal data can be ordered or ranked, but the distances between values are not equal (e.g.,
pain scale: mild, moderate, severe; education level). These data cannot be used in parametric tests.
3. Which level of measurement has equal intervals between values but NO true zero?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: C) Interval
Rationale: Interval data have equal spacing between values but no absolute zero (e.g., temperature in
Celsius, Likert scale scores). A score of zero does not mean "none" of the attribute.
,4. Which level of measurement has equal intervals AND a true zero?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: D) Ratio
Rationale: Ratio data have a true zero that indicates the absence of the measured attribute (e.g., height,
weight, age, income in dollars). These data allow for ratio comparisons.
5. What type of data is "blood type" (A, B, AB, O)?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: A) Nominal
Rationale: Blood type is a categorical variable with no inherent order. Categories are mutually exclusive
and exhaustive but cannot be ranked.
6. What type of data is "educational level" (high school, associate's, bachelor's, master's, doctoral)?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: B) Ordinal
Rationale: Educational levels can be rank-ordered from lowest to highest, but the intervals between
levels are not equal.
7. What type of data is "temperature in Celsius"?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: C) Interval
, Rationale: Celsius temperature has equal intervals but no true zero (0°C does not mean "no
temperature"). Zero is arbitrary, and ratios are not meaningful.
8. What type of data is "weight in kilograms"?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: D) Ratio
Rationale: Weight has a true zero (0 kg means no weight) and equal intervals. Ratios are meaningful.
9. What type of data is "annual income in dollars"?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: D) Ratio
Rationale: Income in dollars has a true zero and equal intervals, making it ratio-level data.
10. A researcher measures depression using a 20-item Likert scale with total scores ranging from 0 to 60.
What is the level of measurement?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: C) Interval
Rationale: Total scores from multi-item Likert scales are typically treated as interval-level data because
equal intervals are assumed between points, and there is no true zero.
11. A researcher categorizes income as: (a) Less than $50,000, (b) $50,000-$59,999, (c) $60,000-$69,999,
(d) $70,000-$80,000, (e) $80,000 or greater. What is the level of measurement?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval