Question

2. For each of the independent variables classify each as ratio, ordinal, interval or nominal. Please EXPLAIN EACH ONE.

1.     Total annual expenditures

2.     Size of the board, measured as the number of reported board members

3.     Racial diversity of the board, measured as nonwhite board members as a percentage of total members

4.     Gender diversity of the board, measured as female board members as a percentage of total members

5.     Percentage of expenditures spent on administration and fundraising

6.     Administrative staff as a percentage of total staff

7.     Number of reported volunteers

8.     Total fee-generating income (not including member dues) as a percentage of total revenues

9.     Nonwhite staff as a percentage of total staff

10.  Nonwhite organization members as a percentage of all organization members (includes board, all types of staff, and volunteers)

Answer 1

1.     Total annual expenditures

Here, the data values / observations describes the order, the exact difference between units, and also have an absolute zero. Hence, can be expressed in the form of ratio - The total annual expenditures this year, is twice that of the previous year.

Total annual expenditures are measured in Ratio scale.

2.     Size of the board, measured as the number of reported board members

Here, the observations may take values 0,1,2,3...., which, as mentioned above, describes the order, the exact difference between units, and also have an absolute zero. Hence, can be expressed in the form of ratio - The number of reported board members has doubled this year.

Size of the board, measured as the number of reported board members is measured in Ratio scale.

3.     Racial diversity of the board, measured as nonwhite board members as a percentage of total members

Here, the observations are grouped into categories that have no meaningful order - White and Non white.Members in the group are assigned a label in that group and this count / frequency is expressed as percentages.Since, the data is still categorical at the base,

Racial diversity of the board, measured as nonwhite board members as a percentage of total members is measured in Nominal scale.

4.     Gender diversity of the board, measured as female board members as a percentage of total members

Here, too the percentages are measured in Nominal scale.

5.     Percentage of expenditures spent on administration and fundraising

As mentioned in 3., percentages are measured in Nominal scale.

6.     Administrative staff as a percentage of total staff

As mentioned in 3., percentages are measured in Nominal scale.

7.     Number of reported volunteers

As mentioned in 2., number of reported volunteers is measured in Ratio scale.

8.     Total fee-generating income (not including member dues) as a percentage of total revenues

Here, the percentages are ratio of two numeric measures and hence, measured in Ratio scale.

9.     Nonwhite staff as a percentage of total staff

As mentioned in 3., percentages are measured in Nominal scale.

10.  Nonwhite organization members as a percentage of all organization members (includes board, all types of staff, and volunteers)

As mentioned in 3., percentages are measured in Nominal scale.