In a study, the data you collect is the number of traffic tickets each person has received. What is the level of measurement for this variable?

• A. Nominal
• B. Ratio
• C. Interval
• D. Ordinal

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the types of measurement levels: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio. Each level describes how data can be categorized and what mathematical operations are valid.
2. Step 2: Nominal level classifies data into distinct categories without any order (e.g., colors, types of cars). Since the number of traffic tickets is a count, it is not nominal.
3. Step 3: Ordinal level involves data that can be ordered or ranked, but the differences between ranks are not meaningful (e.g., class rankings). The number of tickets is numeric and differences between counts are meaningful, so it is not ordinal.
4. Step 4: Interval level has ordered data with meaningful differences, but no true zero point (e.g., temperature in Celsius). The number of tickets has a true zero (no tickets), so it is not interval.
5. Step 5: Ratio level has all the properties of interval data, plus a meaningful zero point, allowing for ratios to be compared (e.g., height, weight, counts). Since the number of traffic tickets can be zero and ratios make sense (e.g., twice as many tickets), the level of measurement is ratio.