Categorical Data

In the previous lesson, we learned about the different types of data. Here we’re going to look at different levels of measurement.

Levels of measurement are different ways that we can represent information and data.

1. Nominal Data

   This data refers to categories, for example, colour. This is a common type of data where we have people, items, objects, or anything else grouped into categories. The only information that a column of nominal data contains is the category itself.

2. Ordinal Data

   This data is similar to nominal data, but it brings an order to the categories, for example, ‘How happy are you with your job?’. This question could be answered in many ways (or with one of the multiple-choice answers supplied). The answers that someone gives to this type of question does not necessarily have a unit of measurement. For this reason, we say that ordinal data contains categories with order.