Reference no: EM133190344

Assignment - Health & Medical Different Types of Measurement Paper

1. Please reply to: Emmanuel If you agree or disagree

Measurement data levels. One of the four different measurement types is a factor: absolute, ordinal, period or percentage.

The difference among characteristics has importance in duration calculation. For egg, the length between 30 to 40 is equal to the distances from 70 to 80 whenever they measure the temperature (in Fahrenheit). It is interpretable the distance among the values. It makes good sense to measure an average period vector for integer levels, since it actually makes sense to do otherwise. But notice that there is little significance in the period calculation ranges -80° is not double as warm as 40° (although their reference quality is double as big). The period calculation drawback could be that there is no universal standard for the period measurements, so that rating 0 is no proof of the factor, but the metric doesn't calculate the parameter ().

Reference - "What is the difference between categorical, ordinal and interval variables?". Institute for Digital Research and Education. University of California, Los Angeles. Retrieved 7 February2016.

Data Structure Levels of Measurement. (n.d.). The Tao of Statistics: A Path to Understanding (with No Math), 12-21. doi: 10.4135/9781452226637.n5

2. Please Reply to: Claudia if you agree or disagree

There are four levels of measurement in quantitative researches - the nominal, ordinal, ratio, and interval (Kirch, 2008). In conducting a quantitative research study in nursing, it is crucial to use an appropriate and most efficient level of measurement. For most quantitative medical research, my preference is usually the use of ratio in measurements of variables. The ratio, as a level of measurement, is quantitative in nature, able to compare variables, establish intervals or differences, and has a zero point of origin in its scale, implying that it has similar properties as other levels of measurements such as interval, nominal, and ordinal.

The ratio scale of measurement has characteristics that make the level of measurement suitable in quantitative medical analysis. First, the ratio scale has an absolute zero point on the scale. The feature may allow a medical researcher to compare two different specimens and determine the ratio of one specimen to the other. The level of measurement provides a distinctive outcome for quantitative analysis. Also, in this level of measurement, variables can be calculated against each other by multiplying, dividing, adding, and subtracting the ratios.

Ratio scale covers a wide scope of measurement in quantitative medical research, which makes the level suitable for use by any medical researcher. Ratio scale can be used to quantify heights, weight, time, age, and temperature, among others. Some of the variables that a medical researcher can undertake in the research include determining the enzyme activities, dose amount for patients, rates of reactions, pulse rate, measurement of temperature, and the survival rate and duration of specimens (Manikandan, 2011). All these above work well with ratios. Therefore, the diversity and flexibility of ratio scale in the medical field are most suitable in quantitative research. The ratio scale measurement covers a broad scope of the medical field and makes it ideal for a researcher.

References - Kirch, Wilhelm, ed. (2008). "Level of measurement." Encyclopedia of Public Health.Encyclopedia of Public Health.2. Springer.pp.851-852.doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-5613-0.

Manikandan, S. (2011). "Measures of central tendency: Median and mode." Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics.2 (3): 214-5.doi:10.4103/0976-500X.83300. PMC 3157145. PMID 21897729.