INSTRUCTIONS: Read the following Levels of Measurements Discussion and respond by noting any discrepancies and/or suggesting alternatives in the levels of measurement and statistical analyses described.
LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT DISCUSSION:
. Levels of Measurement
Research question / discussion
What is the incidence of blood clots from COVID-19 in females over the age of 35? The above question is an example of a research question considered in this discussion. In analytical research, there are two examples of research variables. These include the independent variable and the dependent variable (Flannelly et al., 2014). An independent variable is a variable that is expected to influence the dependent variables. In the research question above, independent variables include COVID-19 status, gender, age, race/ethnicity, BMI, and smoking status. The COVID-19 status, gender, race/ethnicity, and smoking status are measured on a nominal level of measurement. This is because the variables can only be categorized, and the scale differentiates the items based on the categories they belong to. For instance, COVID-19 status is categorized into COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative, gender into male and female, race/ethnicity into White, Asian, Hispanic, African-American, and Others, while smoking status is measured with a yes or no response. This scale is preferred because it provides the respondents with the freedom to express themselves through closed-ended questions. The questions are also easy to analyze through the use of frequency tables and other statistical methods. However, Age and BMI are measured quantitatively on a ratio scale since they involve the true zero as well as equal intervals between the neighboring points. The ratio scale offers more flexibility to the researcher since it is easier to work with absolute values rather than relative values (Williams, 2021).
Furthermore, the dependent variable refers to what occurs as a result of the independent variables. In the research question above, the dependent variable is blood clot incidences among hospitalized patients. From the research question stated above, the dependent variable will be measured quantitatively on an interval scale where the difference between two values is equal, and the presence of a true zero is arbitrary. The main advantage of using an interval scale of measurement is that it allows the researcher to calculate measures of central tendencies such as the mean, as well as measures of dispersion (Dulati, 2018). It also provides values with a known probability of capturing the population parameter of interest.
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