Ordinal scale identification – UGC NET Question

An ordinal scale not only categorises data but also arranges categories in a meaningful order, such as low, medium and high, or first, second and third. However, the distances between these ordered categories are not assumed to be equal, so subtraction and other arithmetic operations on the ranks are not meaningful. This scale allows comparison in terms of “greater than” or “less than” but not precise differences. Because the stem mentions categories that can be ranked but not meaningfully subtracted, it describes an ordinal scale.

Option A:
Ordinal scales appear in many educational settings, such as letter grades (A, B, C) or ranks in a competition. We know that A is better than B and B is better than C, but we cannot say how much better in equal-interval terms. The stem captures exactly this property of ordered but non-interval categories, so ordinal is the correct answer.

Option B:
Nominal scales classify observations into distinct categories without any inherent order, such as gender, blood group or religion. Since nominal data cannot be ranked meaningfully, they do not match the description in the stem, which explicitly mentions the ability to rank categories.

Option C:
Interval scales have equal units between adjacent values, allowing meaningful addition and subtraction, but they lack a true zero point; temperature in Celsius is a standard example. Because the stem stresses that subtraction is not meaningful, an interval scale cannot be the correct option.

Option D:
Ratio scales possess all the properties of interval scales and also have an absolute zero, permitting meaningful multiplication and division; examples include height and weight. With ratio data, subtraction is meaningful, which contradicts the condition stated in the stem. Therefore, ratio scale is not the right completion.