Knowra Data types Data types Data types are categories that distinguish kinds of values and determine which comparisons and operations are meaningful. In measurement, nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio types differ in the structure they preserve.
Nominal data : Data that classify observations into categories without an inherent order. This is the least structured measurement type: categories can be distinguished but not ranked.
Descriptive statistics : Methods for summarizing and describing the features of a dataset. The appropriate summary depends on whether values are categories, ranks, or quantities.
Data structure : A way of organizing and storing data for efficient access and modification. A storage organization does not by itself specify what values mean or which comparisons are valid.
Mean : A measure of central tendency calculated by summing values and dividing by their number. A mean assumes meaningful numerical distances, which category labels and many ranks lack.
Ordinal data : Data whose values have a meaningful order, but not necessarily meaningful or equal distances between them. Ranking is meaningful here, while treating gaps between ranks as equal is not justified.
Statistical hypothesis testing : Methods for evaluating claims about populations using sample data. Data structure constrains which test assumptions and comparisons are appropriate.
Primitive data type : A basic programming-language type, such as an integer, Boolean, or character. Programming types describe representation and operations, not the measurement scales used in statistics.
Median : The middle value in an ordered dataset, or the midpoint of the two middle values. Ordering is enough to define a median, so it can summarize ordinal data.
Interval scale : A measurement scale with ordered values and equal intervals, but no meaningful absolute zero. Equal differences are meaningful, but ratios are not because its zero is arbitrary.
Data visualization : The graphical representation of information and data. Scale type guides choices such as ordering categories or spacing numeric values.
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