Question

11. A police administrator notices that officers under stress tend to be more aggressive in their pursuit of offenders. He believes police stress affects numbers of arrests for police officers. The independent variable mean score was 5.6 and the dependent variable mean score was 3.8. The r (beta) = +.80 (Significant beyond the .05 level of error).

A. The independent variable in above (number 11) is measured on a(n) ________ scale.

1. interval
2. ordinal
3. nominal
4. cannot determine from the above information.

B. The dependent variable in above (number 11) is measured on a(n) _______ scale.

1. interval
2. ordinal
3. nominal
4. cannot determine from the above information.

Answer 1

A) The independent variable in the above is measured on an interval scale.

B) The dependent variable in above is measured in dependent scale.

The interval scale is defined as a quantitative measurement scale where the difference between 2 variables is meaningful. Interval scale is the 3rd level of measurement. In other words, the variables are measured in actuals and not as a relative manner, where the presence of zero is arbitrary. This means that the difference between two variables on a scale is an actual and equal distance.