Intelligence is defined as the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. There has been a long-running debate on how best to measure intelligence. Questions on the measurement of intelligence include how many types of intelligence there are, how it is represented in the brain, and the meaning of different groups of intelligence.
The nominal scale of measurement has variables with categories that differ from one another qualitatively. Categories are different in type and therefore do not have a natural order or ranking ( Passer, 2015). Although these categories may be coded using numbers, their order is arbitrary and calculations would be meaningless because they have no mathematical properties.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
On the contrary, an interval scale is quantitative and there is order. In an interval score, the difference between two adjacent scores is equal to the distance between any other two. The distance is meaningful and equal but the manifestation of zero is arbitrary (it has no true zero). Measurements made using the interval scale are of a common scale and exist at equal intervals ( Passer, 2015). Measurements made to calculate the intervals are highly reliable. The scale can quantify the difference between values and data can be discrete or continuous. This means that whole numbers and fractions can be used in the measurement. Values between variables can be subtracted to get the difference between the two. The interval scale is useful in scientific, business, and social analysis because it is quantitative and straightforward. A researcher can assign numerical values to an arbitrary evaluation such as emotions.
The most notable early measure of intelligence was developed by Henri Simon and Alfred Binet. Both administered the first intelligence test on a wide variety of questions that identified correlations among different types of measures even when the questions were very different. They came up with the general intelligence factor which hypothesizes that there is a single underlying factor from which all items in intelligence are measured (Stangor, & Walinga, 2017). Most psychologists accept this hypothesis.
If I was conducting my own study, I would use the interval scale to measure intelligence. The nominal scale may be used for the different types of intelligence such as creativity and crystallized intelligence, but there has been a general consensus in this measurement scale in relation to intelligence. Intelligence Quotient is measure using the interval scale using a lengthy process to test the subjects who are required to complete various cognitive tasks. This scale only allows addition and subtraction mathematical operations. In IQ measurements, a person with an IQ score of 120 can only be said to have 60 points higher than a person with an IQ score of 60 but not twice as intelligent.
The interval scale has several benefits over the nominal scale. Measurements made using the interval scale to calculate the intervals are highly reliable. The scale can quantify the difference between IQ values and data can use discrete values or continuous. Values between IQ levels can be subtracted to get the difference between the two subjects. The interval scale is useful in the scientific and psychological analysis because it is quantitative and straightforward. A researcher can also assign numerical values to an arbitrary evaluation such as in measuring emotional quotient.
References
Binning, J. (2020). Construct – psychology. Encyclopaedia Britannica . https://www.britannica.com/science/psychophysics
Passer, M. 2015. Scales of measurement. University of Washington . pp 1-5. http://courses.washington.edu/passr209/ScalesOfMeasurement.pdf
Stangor, C. & Walinga, J. (2017). Introduction to psychology – 1st Canadian edition. Open Textbook . https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/chapter/9-1-defining-and-measuring-intelligence/
