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A variable used to associate each data point in a set of observations, or in a particular instance, to a certain qualitative category is a categorical variable. Categorical variables have two types of scales, ordinal and nominal. [1] The first type of categorical scale is dependent on natural ordering, levels that are defined by a sense of quality.
Because variables conforming only to nominal or ordinal measurements cannot be reasonably measured numerically, sometimes they are grouped together as categorical variables, whereas ratio and interval measurements are grouped together as quantitative variables, which can be either discrete or continuous, due to their numerical nature.
Ordinal data is a categorical, statistical data type where the variables have natural, ordered categories and the distances between the categories are not known. [ 1 ] : 2 These data exist on an ordinal scale , one of four levels of measurement described by S. S. Stevens in 1946.
A categorical variable that can take on exactly two values is termed a binary variable or a dichotomous variable; an important special case is the Bernoulli variable. Categorical variables with more than two possible values are called polytomous variables; categorical variables are often assumed to be polytomous unless otherwise specified.
Scaling of data: One of the properties of the tests is the scale of the data, which can be interval-based, ordinal or nominal. [3] Nominal scale is also known as categorical. [6] Interval scale is also known as numerical. [6] When categorical data has only two possibilities, it is called binary or dichotomous. [1]
Level of measurement or scale of measure is a classification that describes the nature of information within the values assigned to variables. [1] Psychologist Stanley Smith Stevens developed the best-known classification with four levels, or scales, of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
When classification is performed by a computer, statistical methods are normally used to develop the algorithm.. Often, the individual observations are analyzed into a set of quantifiable properties, known variously as explanatory variables or features.
Categorical univariate data consists of non-numerical observations that may be placed in categories. It includes labels or names used to identify an attribute of each element. Categorical univariate data usually use either nominal or ordinal scale of measurement. [3]