{"id":195933,"date":"2020-08-12T18:21:21","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T16:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scribbr.nl\/?p=195933"},"modified":"2022-06-09T09:11:32","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T07:11:32","slug":"ordinal-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scribbr.com\/statistics\/ordinal-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Ordinal Data | Definition, Examples, Data Collection & Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ordinal data <\/strong>is classified into categories within a variable that have a natural rank order. However, the distances between the categories are uneven or unknown.<\/p>\n

For example, the variable “frequency of physical exercise” can be categorized into the following:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
1. Never<\/td>\n2. Rarely<\/td>\n3. Sometimes<\/td>\n4. Often<\/td>\n5. Always<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

There is a clear order to these categories, but we cannot say that the difference between “never” and “rarely” is exactly the same as that between “sometimes” and “often”. Therefore, this scale is ordinal.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Levels of measurement<\/h2>\n

Ordinal is the second of 4 hierarchical levels of measurement<\/a>: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. The levels of measurement indicate how precisely data is recorded.<\/p>\n

While nominal and ordinal variables are categorical<\/a>, interval and ratio variables are quantitative.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Nominal data<\/a> differs from ordinal data because it cannot be ranked in an order. Interval data<\/a> differs from ordinal data because the differences between adjacent scores are equal.<\/p>\n

Examples of ordinal scales<\/h2>\n

In social scientific research, ordinal variables often include ratings about opinions or perceptions, or demographic factors that are categorized into levels or brackets (such as social status or income).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Variable<\/th>\nOrdinal values<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Language ability<\/th>\n\n
    \n
  • Beginner<\/li>\n
  • Intermediate<\/li>\n
  • Fluent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Level of agreement<\/th>\n\n
    \n
  • Strongly disagree<\/li>\n
  • Disagree<\/li>\n
  • Neither agree nor disagree<\/li>\n
  • Agree<\/li>\n
  • Strongly agree<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Income level<\/th>\n\n