About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about interval data and scales, focusing in particular on: (i) the lack of a zero, meaning nothing, in the interval scale; (ii) the example of Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature scales as illustrations of interval data; (iii) the outcome of an arbitrary zero manifesting as the interval values remaining the same between two points on each scale, but the ratios of those values being different; (iv) the importance of matching the properties of specific data types to the properties of each measurement scale, in order to assess the best one to use; (v) the maintained applicability of the mode, median, mean, and standard deviation in interval data, despite its lack of ratio representation.

About the lecturer

Professor Dominic Dwyer is the chair for the BSc and MSc exam boards in the School of Psychology at Cardiff University. Professor Dwyer teaches introductory statistics for undergraduate years one and two. Professor Dwyer’s research is primarily focused on how animals and people learn, as well as how that learning is expressed as behaviour. Some key focus areas of this research are computational modelling, neurodegenerative disorders, and the assessment of individual differences. Some of Professor Dwyer’s recent publications include 'EXPRESS: Instrumental responses and Pavlovian stimuli as temporal referents in a peak procedure' (2022) and 'Face masks have emotion-dependent dissociable effects on accuracy and confidence in identifying facial expressions of emotion' (2022).