Question

You are a researcher interested in measuring self-esteem. You give your participants a 10-item questionnaire with items, such as “I feel that I have a number of good qualities” or “I take a positive attitude toward myself.” Participants indicate agreement to these questions on the same 5-point scales, ranging from 1 (not at all agree) to 5 (completely agree). On which scale level do you measure self-esteem? Nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio? Why?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) The type of ratio measurement would depend on the goal of the researcher. A researcher would have to acquire, categorise and even calculate their information based on the research question that they are studying.

(RQ) Are the people from Group A suffering from self-esteem issues?

Nominal – Because here, the data is only classified.

(RQ) What is the level of low self-esteem in each individual in Group A?

Ordinal – Because here, the data is classified and ranked.

(RQ) What was the difference in the level of self-esteem of members of Group A, before and after the self-help seminar? (Members would have to take the test before and after the seminar and compare the results)

Interval – Because here, the data is classified, ranked and difference values are determined.

(RQ) What is the ratio of self-esteem of the people of Group A to the rest of the students in the university?

Ratio – Because here, there would be a meaningful zero point and ratio between values.