Final answer:
The claim that interval data has a natural zero is false; it is ratio data that has a natural zero, allowing for calculations of ratios. Interval data allows for meaningful differences between data points but does not permit ratios since it lacks a true zero point.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that interval data has a natural zero is false; it is actually ratio data that has a natural zero point. Interval data, like temperature readings, have meaningful differences between data points, but they do not have a true zero point, and thus, ratios are not meaningful. On the other hand, ratio data has a natural zero, which allows for the calculation of meaningful ratios. For example, test scores on a final exam can be ordered, differences between the scores have meaning, and ratios can be calculated, such as understanding that a score of 80 is four times more than a score of 20.
Another key difference is that while interval data can be added and subtracted, ratio data also allows for multiplication and division operations. This is because ratio data represents quantities that can be measured against a non-arbitrary zero point, allowing for the comparison of absolute quantities—not just relative differences, as with interval data.
The type of data you have affects the statistics you can compute. For instance, you can calculate the mean and standard deviation of both interval and ratio data, but you can only compute the coefficient of variation for ratio data.