Which of the following is not true of an interval scale?

Question

1. measures numerical variables

2. measures variables that have a logical order

3. measures variables that have equal units between each point on the scale

4. measure variables that have a true zero point

My guess would be # 3, but I am not sure, thanks for looking

Answer 1

3

Answer 2

The answer is 4.  The classic example of an interval scale is temperature measured in degrees F or degrees C.  The reason is that there is no true 0.  When a weather person says the temperature is 0 he doesn't mean there is no heat at all.  There is some heat, but we call the temperature "0" based on the scale we are using.  So, while it is appropriate to say that it will be 30 degrees warmer if the temperature tomorrow is 60 when it is 30 today, it is not appropriate to say that it is twice as warm.  If temperature was measured in degrees Kelvin, then that would be a ratio scale since 0 does truly mean no heat and one can say that 60 K is twice as warm as 30 K.

Answer 3

It is 3

Answer 4

I'm pretty sure the answer is #4.

Temperature is an example of this... the zero for Celsius is not the same as it is for Farenheit (spelling?).  These are interval scales I'm pretty sure.

(In reality temperature does have a natural zero if you consider the Kelvin scale, but they don't mention that in stats class).  Is this a coursecompass class your taking?  I've helped people w/ that before.

Oh, if you're taking stats, here's a good resource for you:

http://www.tutor-homework.com/statistics...

Take care,

David