In ordinal
scales, values given to measurements can be ordered. One example
is shoe size. Shoes are assigned a number to represent the
size, larger numbers mean bigger shoes so unlike the nominal
scale that just reflects a category or class, the numbers
of an ordinal scale show an ordered relationship between numbered
items - we know that a shoe size of 8 is bigger than a shoe
size of 4. What you can't say though is that a shoe size of
8 is twice as big as the shoe size of 4.
So numbers on an ordinal
scale represent a rough and ready ordering of measurements
but the difference or ratios between any two measurements
will not be the same. As for the nominal
scale with ordinal
scales you can use textual labels instead of numbers to represent
the categories.
So for example a scale for the measurement of patient satisfaction
with the care they received in hospital might look like this:
Not satisfied | Fairly satisfied | Satisfied | Very satisfied
