# Nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio typologies are misleading

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## Abstract

> The psychophysicist <S. S. Stevens> developed a measurement scale typology that has dominated social statistics methodology for almost 50 years. During this period, it has generated considerable controversy among statisticians. Recently, there has been a renaissance in the use of Stevens's scale typology for guiding the design of statistical computer packages.
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> The current use of Stevens's terminology fails to deal with the classical criticisms at the time it was proposed and ignores important developments in <data analysis> over the last several decades.