• Categorical (including nominal and ordinal data), refers to categories or
things, not mathematical values
• Numerical (further defined as being either interval or ratio data) refers to
data which is about measurement and counting
In short categorical data types refer to words. Although words can be
counted, the words themselves only represent categories. This can be said
for diseases. Acute cholecystitis (infection of the galbladder) and acute
cholangitis (infection of the bile ducts) are both diseases of the biliary (bile)
tract. As words, these diseases represent categorical entities. Although I
can count how many patients have one of these conditions, the diseases
themselves are not numerical entities. The same would go for gender,
medications, and many other examples.
Just to make things a bit more difficult, actual numbers are sometimes
categorical and not numerical. A good, illustrative example would be
choosing from a rating system for indicating the severity of pain. I could ask
a patient to rate the severity of the pain they experience after surgery on a
scale from 0 (zero) to 10 (ten). These are numbers, but they do NOT
represent numerical values. I can never say that a patient who chooses 6
(six) has twice as much pain as someone who chooses 3 (three). There is
no fixed difference between each of these numbers. They are not
quantifiable. As such, they represent categorical values.
As the name implies, numerical data refers to actual numbers. We
distinguish numerical number values from categorical number values in that
there is a fixed difference between them. The difference between 3 (three)
and 4 (four) is the exact same difference as that between 101 (one-
hundred-and-one) and 102 (one-hundred-and-two).
Here`s also another numerical classification type: discrete and
continuous variables. Discrete values as the name implies exist as little
islands which are not connected (no land between them). Think of the roll
of a die. With a normal six-sided die you cannot roll a three-and-a-half.
Continuous numerical values on the other hand have (for practical
purposes) many values in-between other values. They are infinitely
divisible (within reasonable limits).
Nominal categorical data:
• are data points that either represents words (‘yes’ or ‘no’) or concepts
(like gender or heart disease) which have no mathematical value
• have no natural order to the values or words - i.e. ‘nominal’ - for
example: gender, or your profession
Be careful of categorical concepts that may be perceived as having some
order. Usually these are open to interpretation. Someone might suggest
that heart disease is worse than kidney disease or vice versa. This, though,
depends on so many points of view. Don't make things too complicated. In
general, it is easy to spot the nominal categorical data type.
Ordinal categorical data
If categorical data have some natural order or a logical ranking to the data
points, it is termed ordinal categorical data, i.e. they can be placed in some
increasing or decreasing order.
I gave the example of a pain score from 1 (one) to 10 (ten). Even though
these are numbers, no mathematical operation can be performed on these
digits. They are ordered in magnitude from 1 to 10. But there is no
standardized measurement of these rankings and therefore no indication
that the interval between the specific scores is of the same value.
Other common examples include survey questions: where a participant can
rate their agreement with a statement on a scale, say 1 (one), indicating
that they don't agree at all, to 5 (five), indicating that they fully agree. Likert
style answers such as totally disagree, disagree, neither agree nor
disagree, agree and totally agree can also be converted to numbers, i.e. 1
(one) to 5 (five). Although they can be ranked, they still have no inherent
numerical value and as such remain ordinal categorical data values.
Numerical data types
As opposed to categorical data types (words, things, concepts, rating
numbers), numerical data types involve actual numbers. Numerical data is
quantitative data - for example, the weights of the babies attending a clinic,
the doses of medicine, or the blood pressure of different patients. They can
be compared and you can do calculations on the values. From a
mathematical point of view, there are fixed differences between values. The
difference between a systolic blood pressure value of 110 and 120 mm Hg
is the same as between 150 and 160 mm Hg (being 10 mm Hg).
There are two types of numerical data - interval and ratio.
Interval
With interval data, the difference between each value is the same, which
means the definition as 'I' used above holds. The difference between 1 and
2 degrees Celsius is the same as the difference between 3 and 4 degrees
Celsius (there is a 1 degree difference). However, temperatures expressed
in degrees Celsius (or Fahrenheit) do not have a ‘true zero’ because 0
(zero) degrees Celsius is not a true zero. This means that with numerical
interval data (like temperature) we can order the data and we can add and
subtract, but we cannot divide and multiply the data (we can’t do ratios
without a ‘true zero’). 10 degrees plus 10 degrees is 20 degrees, but 20
degrees is not twice as hot as 10 degrees Celsius. Ratio type numerical
data requires a true zero.
Ratio
This type applies to data that have a true 0 (zero), which means you can
establish a meaningful relationship between the data points as related to
the 0 (zero) value eg. age from birth (0) or white blood cell count or number
of clinic visits (from 0). A systolic blood pressure of 200 mm Hg is indeed
twice as high as a pressure of 100 mm Hg.
Summary
Nominal categorical = naming and describing (eg. gender)
Ordinal categorical = some ordering or natural ranking (eg. pain scales)
Interval numerical = meaningful increments of difference (eg. temperature)
Ratio numerical = can establish a base-line relationship between the data
with the absolute 0 (eg. age)
Discrete data:
• has a finite set of values
• cannot be subdivided (rolling of the dice is an example, you can only
roll a 6, not a 6.5!)
• a good example are binomial values, where only two values are
present, for example, a patient develops a complications, or they do
not
Continuous data:
• has infinite possibilities of subdivisions (for example, 1.1, 1.11. 1.111
etc.)
• an example I used was the measure of blood pressure, and the
possibility of taking ever more detailed readings depending on the
sensitivity of the equipment that is being used
• is mostly seen in a practical manner, i.e. although we can keep on
halving the number of red blood cells per litre of blood and eventually
end up with a single (discrete) cell, the absolutely large numbers we
are dealing with make red blood cell count a continuous data value
Why do we need to spend time
distinguishing data?
You have to use very different statistical
tests for different types of data, and
without understanding what data type
values (data points) reflect, it is easy to
make false claims or use incorrect
statistical tests.