Читать книгу Interpreting and Using Statistics in Psychological Research - Andrew N. Christopher - Страница 42

Even before you started this course, you probably knew you would be dealing with numbers. In this section, we will discuss different ways that we quantify variables. The previous section already gave you some insight into the process. Here, we will make explicit the types of data we can collect when we operationally define a variable.

When we talk about scales of measurement, we are simply talking about assigning numbers to events or objects using rules. The rules you use to assign numbers determines the kinds of statistical tools you can use to understand the data. In this section, we distinguish four types of measurement scales according to the rules by which numbers are assigned to objects or events. In the Learning Check following this section, we will identify the scales of measurement that Terrell and her colleagues (2008) used to measure the variables in their research.

Photo 2.1 One reason why scales of measurement are critical!

Source: ©Theresa McCracken/CartoonStock