Which statement correctly describes nominal data?

Which statement correctly describes nominal data?

• A. Qualitative/Categorical data where order does not matter
• B. Differences between values are meaningful
• C. Distances between values are meaningful
• D. There is a true zero

Answer: (A)

Nominal data are qualitative categories with no natural order. Each observation is labeled with a category, and those categories are distinct but not ranked. Because there’s no meaningful way to say one category is higher or lower, you can count frequencies or identify the most common category, but you can’t meaningfully subtract categories or talk about distances between them. That’s why this description fits nominal data: qualitative categories where order does not matter. The other statements describe data with a numeric scale and meaningful arithmetic—differences between values, distances between values, or a true zero—which don’t apply to nominal data.

Nominal data are qualitative categories with no natural order. Each observation is labeled with a category, and those categories are distinct but not ranked. Because there’s no meaningful way to say one category is higher or lower, you can count frequencies or identify the most common category, but you can’t meaningfully subtract categories or talk about distances between them. That’s why this description fits nominal data: qualitative categories where order does not matter. The other statements describe data with a numeric scale and meaningful arithmetic—differences between values, distances between values, or a true zero—which don’t apply to nominal data.