Questions: Todd is studying the effect of popularity on academic success for his research methods project. He decides to measure popularity by asking each elementary school student to tell him how many friends he or she has. He assumes that more friends means the student is more popular. Which of the following best describes this variable?
a) a qualitative variable
b) a ratio scale of measurement
c) an other-report measure
d) a categorical variable
Transcript text: Todd is studying the effect of popularity on academic success for his research methods project. He decides to measure popularity by asking each elementary school student to tell him how many friends he or she has. He assumes that more friends means the student is more popular. Which of the following best describes this variable?
a) a qualitative variable
b) a ratio scale of measurement
c) an other-report measure
d) a categorical variable
Solution
Solution Steps
Solution Approach
To determine the best description of the variable Todd is using, we need to analyze the nature of the data he is collecting. Todd is asking students to report the number of friends they have, which is a numerical value. This type of data can be measured on a ratio scale because it has a true zero point (having zero friends) and the differences between values are meaningful. Therefore, the best description of this variable is a ratio scale of measurement.
Step 1: Identify the Variable Type
Todd is measuring popularity by asking elementary school students how many friends they have. This data is numerical, as it consists of counts of friends.
Step 2: Determine the Scale of Measurement
The number of friends can be classified based on the characteristics of the data:
It has a true zero point (0 friends means no friends).
The differences between values are meaningful (e.g., having 3 friends is more than having 2 friends).
Given these characteristics, the variable can be classified as a ratio scale of measurement.
Final Answer
The best description of the variable is \\(\boxed{b) \text{a ratio scale of measurement}}\\).