CHES (Certified Health Education Specialist) Practice Exam 2026 - Free Health Education Specialist Practice Questions and Study Guide

The correct answer is interval level measures because this level of measurement allows for both rank ordering and the measurement of distances between values. In interval scales, not only can you determine the order of values, but the difference between any two values is meaningful. For example, in temperature measurements in Celsius or Fahrenheit, the difference between 20 and 30 degrees is the same as between 80 and 90 degrees, demonstrating that the intervals are equal.

However, interval measurements lack an absolute zero point, which means that zero does not indicate the absence of the property being measured. For instance, zero degrees Celsius does not mean there is no temperature; it simply indicates a specific temperature point.

In contrast, nominal level measures categorize data without any order or ranking (such as gender or ethnicity) and do not allow for any quantitative analysis. Ordinal level measures allow for rank ordering (like ranking in a race), but the intervals between ranks are not equal or defined, which restricts the types of mathematical operations that can be performed. Ratio level measures, unlike interval measures, do possess an absolute zero, allowing for meaningful comparison of ratios.