Scales, Rank Order

Rank order data (also known as ordinal data) is a type of quantitative data. The formulation of what became known as the levels of measurement (i.e., nominal, ordinal, ratio, interval) was formulated in 1946 by S.S. Stevens, who during World War II was the Director of the Office of Measurement as part of the Department of War (later renamed the Department of Defense). Steven’s formulation was to guide the use of statistical formulas and his work specified what kinds of statistics, in his view, were permitted with each form of measurement data. Understanding the type of data collected is critical because the type of mathematical relationship determines the types of statistics that can be used to analyze the data. Rank order data are always associated ...