Types of Data

Litty Mathew
 Types of data

(Nominal) (Ordinal)

Interval Ratio
 Qualitative & Quantitative data
Qualitative Variables Quantitative Variables
• Descriptive • Numerical Information(Numbers)
Information(Categories) • It can be measured.
• Some characteristics are not • convey information regarding
capable of being measured ,It can amount.
be categorized only.
• Consists of numerical
• convey information regarding measurements/counts
attribute.
• Eg: Height, Width, Length
• Consists of attributes, labels or non
numerical entries
• Eg: Colour, Names
Qualitative & Quantitative data
Levels of Measurement

• Since we have
different kind of data ,
We need different kind
of scales to measure
them
Nominal Scale
• The lowest measurement scale
• it consists of “naming”
observations or classifying them
into various mutually exclusive and
collectively exhaustive categories.
• They are categories without order
or direction or distance
• Hence nominal data is of restricted
or limited use.
• Eg: Name of hospital, Type of
infection
• Binary: If data takes only two
mutually exclusive categories
• Eg: male–female, well–sick
Ordinal Scale
• If categories can be ranked
according to some criterion
• Eg: Socio-Economic status,
Education etc.
• Adjacent ranks need not to be
equal in their differences.
• The degree of improvement
between unimproved and
improved is probably not the same
as that between improved and
much improved.
• Has no absolute value
• More precise comparisons are not
possible
 Quantitative Data
Discrete Data Continuous Data
• Quantitative data with whole • It is possible for the data to take
numbers values that are fractions or
• Only finite no.of values possible decimals.
• Can take only certain values by a • There can be infinite no.of
finite jumps. possible values.
• It is associated with physical
measurement.
Interval scale
• Interval data in addition to ranking (setting up inequalities) further
allow for forming differences
• it possible to order measurements, but also the distance between any
two measurements is known.
• For interval data there is no absolute zero; unique origin does not
exists
• Interval data are more powerful than ordinal scale due to equality of
intervals
• Examples: Temperature in Fahrenheit
“zero degrees, ”which does not indicate a lack of heat.
Ratio Scale
• The highest level of measurement
• Ratio data allow for forming quotients in addition to setting up
inequalities and forming differences
• All mathematical operations (manipulations with real numbers) are
possible on ratio data
• It can have an absolute or true zero and represent the actual
amount/ value
• The most precise data and allow for application of all statistical
techniques
Examples: Height, weight, age
Thank You