Which statement best describes ordinal measurement?

Which statement best describes ordinal measurement?

• A. It shows each subject's position with respect to a characteristic.
• B. It ranks data but does not indicate equal intervals between ranks.
• C. It has a true zero point.
• D. It uses categories of equal size.

Answer: (B)

Ordinal measurement focuses on order: you can say one item ranks above another, but you can’t assume the distance between ranks is the same across the scale. For example, on a 1–5 satisfaction scale, the jump from 2 to 3 isn’t guaranteed to represent the same amount of change as from 4 to 5. This lack of equal intervals is what distinguishes ordinal data from interval or ratio data. It also explains why a true zero point isn’t present and why simply grouping into equally sized categories isn’t what defines ordinal measurement. So, ordinal measurement is about ranking data without assuming equal spacing between ranks.

Ordinal measurement focuses on order: you can say one item ranks above another, but you can’t assume the distance between ranks is the same across the scale. For example, on a 1–5 satisfaction scale, the jump from 2 to 3 isn’t guaranteed to represent the same amount of change as from 4 to 5. This lack of equal intervals is what distinguishes ordinal data from interval or ratio data. It also explains why a true zero point isn’t present and why simply grouping into equally sized categories isn’t what defines ordinal measurement. So, ordinal measurement is about ranking data without assuming equal spacing between ranks.