Application: Measuring Variables Writing Assignment

Measuring variables
Names
Date
Institution of affiliation
Measuring variables
According to Webster English dictionary, measurement refers to assigning a number to a unit, characteristic, event or an object. Measurement is dependent on the discipline and context. For example, liquids use liters; length is measured in feet/ inches while distance is measured in miles. Observation, on the other hand, refers to the act of seeing and taking notice of something. The main difference between measurement and observation is that the later uses the five senses of touch, smell. Sight, sound and touch while measurement uses physical experimentation to come to a conclusion (Humphrey, et al 2010).
According Bachman et, al (2013), there are different types of measurement each with distinctive characteristics. Nominal measurement, for example, refers to measurements that differentiate objects based only on their names. It mainly uses qualitative qualifications to define its data, for instance, nationality, ethnicity, race and age. In the nominal measurement, there is no numerical value or a mathematical formula but is categorized into labels. Ordinal measurement which is another level of measurement uses ranking, for example, 1st 2nd 3rd. This type of measurement does not allow for a relative degree of differentiation and is therefore not accurate. An example of ordinal measurement is healthy vs. ill, guilty vs. innocent. While one is the opposite of the other, there is no clear definition at how the opinion was arrived at. The interval type allows for a degree of relative differentiation but not the ratio among/between them. Temperature is an example of interval measurement. This is because it has the lowest point and the highest point separated into intervals of 1000. However, it cannot tell the relation between 00 and 400 that is; one cannot say at 400 it is twice hot as at 200. The ratio scale measurement explains the relationship between the magnitude of a continuous quantity of a unit and its unit size. A proportion cannot be a zero, that is, it possesses a meaningful value. Physical sciences use this measurement for length weight and heig...