CompTIA Data+ (DA0-002)Data Concepts and EnvironmentsEasy
A data analyst is working with a dataset that includes customer feedback categorized as 'Very Dissatisfied', 'Dissatisfied', 'Neutral', 'Satisfied', and 'Very Satisfied'. The analyst needs to perform statistical analysis that respects the inherent order of these categories but does not assume equal intervals between them. Which data type BEST represents this kind of data?
- ARatio
- BNominal
- CInterval
- DOrdinal
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Ordinal
Ordinal data has categories with a meaningful order, like satisfaction levels, but the differences between categories are not necessarily equal or quantifiable. This aligns perfectly with the described customer feedback.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Ratio data has all the properties of interval data, plus a true zero point, allowing for meaningful ratios.
- B. Nominal data has categories without any inherent order.
- C. Interval data has ordered categories with equal intervals, but no true zero point.
Ordinal Data
A type of categorical data where the variables have natural, ordered categories and the distances between the categories are not known.
- Categories have a meaningful order
- Differences between categories are not quantifiable or equal
- Examples: satisfaction ratings, education levels
Memory trick: NOIR: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, Ratio, in increasing order of precision.