ordinal scale

a sequence of numbers that do not indicate magnitude or a true zero point but rather reflect a rank ordering on the attribute being measured. For example, an ordinal scale for the performance of a specific group of people on a particular test might use the number 1 to indicate the person who obtained the highest score, the number 2 to indicate the person who obtained the next highest score, and so on. It is important to note that an ordinal scale does not provide any information about the degree of difference between adjacent ranks (e.g., it is not clear what the actual point difference is between the rank 1 and 2 scores). Compare interval scale; nominal scale; ratio scale.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

best fit

the theoretical pattern that best accounts for the relationships among variables in a data set. For example, a regression equation having the best fit to sample data is the one that minimizes differences between observed and predicted values. On a scatterplot, a line of best fit provides a visual depiction of this pattern, allowing extrapolation to values not part of the original data set. It is important to note that the best-fitting pattern is not necessarily the one that generated the observed data, as other patterns not considered may provide a superior fit.