SOLUTION: What type of scale is being used for each of the following measurements? a. Number of arithmetic problems correctly solved ___________ ___ b. Type of phobia ___________ ___ c.

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Question 1165342: What type of scale is being used for each of the following measurements?
a. Number of arithmetic problems correctly solved _______________
b. Type of phobia _______________
c. Self-esteem, as measured by self-report questionnaire _______________
d. Annual income in dollars _______________
e. Theoretical orientation toward psychotherapy _______________
f. Heart rate in beats per minute _______________
Answer by CPhill(2189) About Me  (Show Source):
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The type of scale used for a measurement depends on the mathematical properties of the numbers or categories assigned to the data. There are four main types of measurement scales: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio.
Here is the classification for each of the given measurements:
| Measurement | Scale Type | Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **a. Number of arithmetic problems correctly solved** | **Ratio** | Has a true zero point (0 problems solved means a total absence of correct answers). Ratios are meaningful (10 correct is twice as many as 5 correct). |
| **b. Type of phobia** | **Nominal** | Categorical data where numbers (if assigned) are just labels with no inherent order (e.g., classifying Phobias as 1=Acrophobia, 2=Arachnophobia). |
| **c. Self-esteem, as measured by self-report questionnaire** | **Interval** (Typically treated as) | The difference between scores is meaningful (equal intervals), but there is usually no true zero point (a score of 0 does not mean a complete absence of self-esteem). |
| **d. Annual income in dollars** | **Ratio** | Has a true zero point ($0 income). Ratios are meaningful (an income of \$100,000 is twice that of \$50,000). |
| **e. Theoretical orientation toward psychotherapy** | **Nominal** | Categorical data without inherent order (e.g., Cognitive-Behavioral, Psychoanalytic, Humanistic). |
| **f. Heart rate in beats per minute** | **Ratio** | Has a true zero point (0 beats means the absence of a heart rate). Ratios are meaningful (a heart rate of 120 bpm is twice that of 60 bpm). |