Types of variables

Nominal data refers to data where categories do not have a particular order or ranking. It involves dividing data into distinct categories that are not inherently ranked. For example, if you want to determine the hair colour of students in a university, you can categorize them into groups such as black, brown, blonde, or brunette. These categories are nominal because they do not have any inherent order or ranking associated with them. Ordinal data, on the other hand, refers to data where categories have a specific order or ranking. In this case, the categories can be arranged in a particular order, indicating a hierarchy or progression. For instance, if you want to categorize students based on the letter grades, they received on a test, you can use grades like A+, A, B+, C, and so on. These grades can be ranked in a specific order, where A+ is considered higher than A, and B+ is lower than A. While ordinal data does not have numerical values, it carries an inherent order or ranking.