5.5: Summary

Data are central to the use of empiricism. Depending on what is being measured, and how data is being stored, the structure of data can vary from nominal data, which has no mathematical structure, to ratio data, which has a great deal of mathematical structure. The amount of structure that data has is referred to as the measurement scale of the data. It is extremely important that the calculations performed on the data in any statistical analysis be permitted by the measurement scale of the data. Performing mathematical calculations on data without the proper measurement scale can lead to conclusions that do not have any real meaning and can seriously weaken the impact and integrity of a research study. When critically evaluating a research study, the measurement scale of the data should be considered along with whether the types of calculations performed on the data are valid.

---