Which level of measurement allows for the calculation of meaningful distances between data points but lacks an absolute zero?

The correct answer is interval. The interval level of measurement includes not only the properties of the ordinal level, which organizes data into some ranked order, but also allows for meaningful distances between points. This means that you can determine how much more one value is compared to another. An example of interval data is temperature measured in Celsius or Fahrenheit; the difference between 10 degrees and 20 degrees is the same as the difference between 20 degrees and 30 degrees, allowing for meaningful interpretation of these differences.

However, interval measurements do not include an absolute zero point that signifies a complete absence of the measured attribute. For example, in the case of temperature, 0 degrees does not indicate "no temperature," but rather a specific temperature point. In contrast, the ratio level of measurement includes all of these properties plus an absolute zero, allowing for calculations of ratios (e.g., one temperature being twice as hot as another), which is not possible with interval data.