On the definition and use of aggregate indices for nominal, ordinal, and other scales
Sandro Morasca · IrInSubria (University of Insubria) · 2004
It is not uncommon in software engineering measurement to deal with attributes measured with nominal or ordinal scales. Also, it has long been debated whether it is possible to find ordinal scales for the structural complexity of software code. In this paper, we address two problems: (1) the definition of concentration and dispersion indices for nominal scales; (2) the conditions under which the comparisons of arithmetic means or geometric means are meaningful for scales that are ordinal or not even ordinal.