jim clark wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> On Mon, 25 Feb 2002, Jay Tanzman wrote:
>
> > I just got chewed out by my boss for modelling the means of some 7-point
> > semantic differential scales. The scales were part of a written,
> > self-administered questionnaire, and were laid out like this:
> >
> > Not stressful 1__ 2__ 3__ 4__ 5__ 6__ 7__ Very stressful
> >
> > So, why or why not is it kosher to model the means of scales like this?
[snip]
> 2. Perhaps more likely, your boss may have learned
> (wrongly?) that parametric stats should not be done unless scales
> of measurement are at least interval in quality.
I don't know if his objection was to parametric statistics per se, but he did
object to calculating means on these data, which he believes are only ordinal.
> Search on google
> for people like John? Gaito and S.S. Stevens and for phrases like
> "scales of measurement" and "parametric statistics."
Thanks. Will do.
-Jay
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