Question

In Exercises 21-28,determine which of the four levels of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio) is most appropriate.

Exit PollFor the presidential election of 2016, ABC News conducts an exit poll in which voters are asked to identify the political party (Democratic, Republican, and so on) that they registered with.

Short answer

The classification of the political affiliation of voters in an exit poll can be done under the nominal scale.

Step-by-step solution

Given information

In an exit poll, data about the different political parties that the voters registered with is provided.

Classification of data according to the level of measurement

The process revolves around assigning the most appropriate scale of measurement to the given values.

• Nominal: It is the first scale of measurement and is used to denote all categorical variables. There is no specific order in this scale. For example, writing 1 for English, 2 for French, 3 for German, and 4 for Spanish to code types of languages spoken.

• Ordinal: It is the second level of measurement and is used to denote variables that follow a specific order. The amount of variation between the values is undefined. For example, writing 1 for Agree, 2 for Neutral, and 3 for Disagree to code responses on a particular statement.

• Interval: It is the third level of measurement and is used to denote quantitative values whose differences can be measured. For example, temperature is measured in Fahrenheit units, and its true zero value (0 degrees Fahrenheit) does not indicate a zero amount of heat.

• Ratio:It is the fourth level of measurement used to denote all variables whose differences and true zero values can be computed and have meaning. For example, the number of hours spent watching television in a day.

Identification of the appropriate scale

As the political affiliation of voters is a categorical variable with no specific order, the nominallevel of measurement is the most appropriate.