measurement scale
any of four common methods for quantifying attributes of variables during the course of research, listed in order of increasing power and complexity: nominal scale, ordinal scale, interval scale, and ratio scale. More specifically, nominal scales consist of named categories with no numerical meaning (e.g., gender, birthplace), ordinal scales comprise rankings from highest to lowest or vice versa (e.g., birth order, contest winners), interval scales provide equal distance between numerical values but have an arbitrary zero point (e.g., degrees Fahrenheit, checkbook balance), and ratio scales provide equal distance between numerical values with an exact zero point (e.g., height, weight).