Ratio and interval scales are often referred to as which type of data?

• A. Ordinal
• B. Nominal
• C. Continuous
• D. Categorical

Answer: (C)

Ratio and interval scales are numeric measurement types that yield meaningful differences between values. Because you can have many possible values between any two points on these scales, the data are treated as continuous data. This contrasts with nominal data (categories with no inherent order) and ordinal data (categories with order but unequal intervals), which are not considered continuous. The ability to take on a continuum of values and perform arithmetic operations on these measurements is what makes ratio and interval data fit the description of continuous data.