1.2 Types of Data¶
Qualitative¶
Descriptive type of data used for non-numeric attributes or values that cannot be described in numbers.
Numeric: When an attribute/description is allocated to a number.¶
- Nominal: Numbers allotted to different attributes with a provided key.
Example: Premium locality, Community/Complex, and Amenities are numeric nominal data. Here, 1 and 0 represent values using the key provided.
- Ordinal: Numeric data with an order or ranking.
Example: Rating is numeric ordinal data. It is rated from 1 to 5, where 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest, indicating ranking.
Non-Numeric: Where an observation is described using words.¶
- Nominal: Data represented in words without any order or ranking. Example: Gender is nominal non-numeric data. It is described in words without any order or ranking.
- Ordinal: Data represented in words with an order or ranking. Example: Satisfaction is ordinal non-numeric data, rated from "Not at all satisfied" to "Very satisfied," with a clear ranking.
Quantitative¶
Interval¶
Where only the interval denoted by some fixed unit has relevance. It is a scale in which 0 also does not have any significance. In interval data, the ratio of the data does not have much relevance. - Timer: If a time has intervals of 2 seconds, the measurements are taken at the intervals. - Temperature: Where 2 cups with water at 10 and 30 deg celsius respectively, The second cup is not 3x as hot as the water in the first cup. It is also measured in intervals depending on the thermometer used. Here, although the water can be at 0 deg, it does not have any meaning. - Adjusted GPA for both core and elective courses is quantitative interval data. It is a quantitative numeric value between an interval of 2 to 10.
Ratio¶
Where 0 has meaning and the ratio between the data has significance. - 2 businesses; where 1st is making a profit of 1L and 2nd is making a profit of 2L. Here the second business is making 2x the profit of the first business. And a business making 0 profit is breaking even. - Age; At the time of recording the data, A 20 year old is twice as old as a 10 year old and a new-born has an age of 0.. The ratio between the age has significance and 0 denotes a new-born. - Age and Overall score are both ratios. That is because the overall score is measured from 0 to 100. however, If it was SAT scores it would be on an interval scale because it is measured on a scale from 200 to 800.
Cross-Sectional Data¶
When the full data set is collected in a fixed time frame. Any type of data with however many variables, if collected in a fixed time frame is considered a Cross-Sectional Data. Example: Multiple companies' revenue in 1 month.
Time Series¶
When data is collected over multiple time intervals. Example: A company’s revenue over several months.
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