Unit 1 · Find your way around

Levels of measurement in SPSS: nominal, ordinal and scale

How to choose Nominal, Ordinal or Scale in the SPSS Measure column, with examples and practice questions.

Free lessonAbout 5 minutes5 practice questions

Nominal, ordinal or scale?

The Measure column tells SPSS what kind of data each variable holds. It decides which charts and tests make sense.

survey.sav [DataSet1] – SPSS Statistics Data Editor

	Name	Type	Width	Label	Values	Missing	Columns	Align	Measure	Role
1	course	Numeric	8	Course	{1, Psychology}…	None	8	Right	Nominal1	Input
2	satisfaction	Numeric	8	Satisfaction (1–5)	{1, Very unhappy}…	None	8	Right	Ordinal2	Input
3	age	Numeric	8	Age in years	None	99	8	Right	Scale3	Input

Data ViewVariable View

1
NominalCategories with no order. Course: 1 = Psychology, 2 = Nursing, 3 = Business. The numbers are just names.
2
OrdinalCategories in a meaningful order, but the gaps between them aren't guaranteed equal, such as a 1–5 satisfaction rating.
3
ScaleNumbers with equal gaps, such as age, reaction time or exam score. You can add, subtract and average them.

Quick test: would an average make sense? Yes means Scale. If order matters but an average feels odd, Ordinal. Otherwise Nominal.

Practise it yourself

Reading is only half of it. The lesson has 5 quick questions where you tap through the SPSS menus, read the output and choose the right write-up, with instant feedback on every answer.

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Nominal, ordinal or scale?

Practise it yourself

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