Four Levels of Measurement of data

WHAT IS DATA?
Data is a collection
of facts, such as
numbers, words,
measurements
and observations.
The types of data
are qualitative and
quantitative.
 Qualitative/Categorical 
describes qualities or characteristics. It is
collected using questionnaires, interviews, or
observation, and frequently appears in narrative
form. Under qualitative data are nominal and
ordinal.
 Nominal data
Is defined as data that is used for naming or
labelling variables, without any quantitative
value. It is sometimes called “named” data - a
meaning coined from the word nominal. 
 Ordinal data
Is a type of categorical data with an order. The
variables in ordinal data are listed in an ordered
manner. The ordinal variables are usually
numbered, so as to indicate the order of the list. 
 Quantitative/Numerical 
Is the type of data whose value is
measured in the form of numbers or
counts, with a unique numerical value
associated with each data set. 
Interval data
Is like ordinal except we can say
the intervals between each value
are equally split. Also it is where
there is order and the difference
between two values is
meaningful.
Ratio data
Is interval data with a
natural zero point.  In
other words, there can
be no negative
numerical value in ratio
data.