What is a characteristic of an interval scale?

An interval scale is defined by the meaningfulness of the differences between values. This means that the intervals between points on the scale are consistent and can be interpreted in terms of the magnitude of differences. For example, in an interval scale, the difference between a temperature of 20 degrees and 30 degrees is the same as the difference between 80 degrees and 90 degrees, allowing for meaningful comparisons.

While an interval scale does not possess a true zero point—where zero would indicate the absence of the quantity being measured—its primary characteristic lies in the fact that the intervals themselves are meaningful, allowing for a range of mathematical operations, such as addition and subtraction.

In this context, the other options do not accurately describe the characteristics of an interval scale. For instance, a true zero point is a feature of a ratio scale, not an interval scale. Options referring to categorical data misidentify the nature of interval scales, which are quantitative, and labeling interval scales as qualitative undermines their measurement of numerical data.