The type of measurement scale used for variables with categories that have a natural order or ranking is the Ordinal scale.
In an ordinal scale, the categories can be ranked or ordered, but the differences between the ranks are not necessarily uniform or meaningful. For example, a ranking of preferences (such as "like," "neutral," "dislike") indicates an order but does not quantify the difference between the preferences.
In contrast:
- Nominal scale is used for categories without a natural order (e.g., gender, color).
- Interval scale has ordered categories with meaningful differences between measurements but no true zero point (e.g., temperature in Celsius).
- Ratio scale has ordered categories with meaningful differences and a true zero point (e.g., weight, height).