Anne has two ordinal-level variables in a data set. Which of the following should she use to calculate a correlation between these two variables?
A) Spearman Rho
B) Pearson r
C) Alpha Coefficient
D) Kappa' Tau

Question

Anne has two ordinal-level variables in a data set. Which of the following should she use to calculate a correlation between these two variables?
A) Spearman Rho
B) Pearson r 
C) Alpha Coefficient
D) Kappa' Tau

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Ordinal level variables indicate the order of the values but not the difference between them. Therefore, Pearson r cannot be used, which requires continuous data. On the other hand, Spearman Rho is a rank-based correlation coefficient that can be used for ordinal data, making it the best choice. Alpha Coefficient and Kappa' Tau are used for different types of data, and they are not appropriate for this situation.

Anne Has Two Ordinal-Level Variables in a Data Set