categorical scale

a sequence of numbers that identifies items as belonging to mutually exclusive categories. For example, a categorical scale for the political party affiliation of a group of Americans might use 1 to denote Republican, 2 to denote Democrat, and 3 to denote Independent. When the number sequence has a meaningful order a categorical scale is more precisely called an ordinal scale; when it is devoid of such meaningful order it is known as a nominal scale.

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Psychology term of the day

November 23rd 2024

response topography

the physical characteristics of a response, including its duration, force, extent, and location. Also called topography of response.