Chapter 6 Quiz Question -

According to Babbie, what is one way in which indexes and scales differ?

a) An index is a composite measure while a scale is a typological measure.
b) An index rank orders items that indicate a variable, while a scale classifies observations in terms of their attributes on two or more variables.
c) An index looks at whether or not an item reflects a variable being measured, while a scale takes into consideration the intensity with which different items reflect the variable being measure.
d) Scales generally superior to indexes and are used more often than indexes because they are much easier to create.
e) They are not different, they are the same thing.











a) incorrect - Both scales and indexes are composite measures.
b) incorrect - The definition of index is correct, but the definition of the scale is actually the definition of a typology.
c) correct!
d) incorrect - Babbie does state that scales are superior to indexes but he also says that "indexes are more frequently used because scales are often difficult or impossible to construct from the data at hand" (Babbie 155, 156).
e) incorrect - Though Babbie states that many researchers use the two words interchangeably, he insists that there is a different between the two terms.