Certify and Increase Opportunity.
Be
Govt. Certified HR Staffing Manager

HR Staffing | Types of measurement

This lesson focuses on measurement. We give some hints on how to measure mass and volume in the lab, explain the difference between measured and absolute numbers, and introduce some math associated with measurements in water and waste water labs.

Measurements can be taken on characteristics ranging from temperature to length to weight. In the world of chemistry, we use measurement when we weigh out dry chemicals, note the amount of a liquid used during titration, or measure the temperature of a liquid during a chemical reaction. As you will find during the laboratory exercises in this course, the most frequently made measurements include mass and volume, so we will focus on these two characteristics in this section.

The different types of measurement includes,

• Nominal Measurement is a measure in which numbers are assigned to labels that are discrete. For example, ‘1’ is used to represent Male and ‘2’ represents Female.
• Ordinal Measurement is a used for assigning numbers in ascending or descending order for attributes. For example in a task, ‘1’ can represent to a task completed by a person, ‘2’ for the second person and so on. Ordinal data is used to represent a rank.
• Interval Measurement provides the meaning between a set of scores. For example the distance between 40 to 50 degrees centigrade is the same as the distance between 80 to 90 degrees. Here the interval is constant. Similarly, 100 degrees F is twice 50 degrees F, hence when converted to Celsius the ratio 2:1 does not hold. Examples of interval measurement includes, intelligence scores, self-reported motivation scores etc.
• Ratio Measurement includes a meaningful ratio point, by which ratios from the measure is constructed. For example, if there are 12 men and 6 women in a department, the ratio of men to women in that department is 2: 1.
• Scores is the process of assigning numerical values during measurement. It is important to understand the scoring system in order to interpret the scores. Data is represented as raw scores, standard scores, and percentile scores. Raw scores are the number or unadjusted scores on a measure. This implies the raw score is used to represent a number of positive responses for a particular trait in an assessment.
• Criteria-referenced measures: These measures are based on certain standards. For example, an applicant has to successfully complete a computer test for the next level in the selection process.
• Norm-referenced measures: These scores have a meaning when compared to the scores of others. For example, in a group the candidates reaching the top three scores in an assessment is eligible to qualify for the next level.

Go back to Tutorial                                                                                Go to Home Page