DATA TYPES
Data visualization helps you see patterns, trends, and problems quickly.
When we convert raw numbers into charts or graphs, we can detect relationships that are impossible to
notice in long tables.
Why DV matters:
It reveals hidden insights.
It supports exploratory data analysis (EDA).
It helps you understand your data before applying any model.
John Tukey, the father of EDA, believed that pictures are powerful because:
A good visual forces you to notice things you never expected.
Types of Data Based on Nature of
Values
04/01/2026 Dept. of CSE 4
Categorical (Nominal)
Nominal data is a basic type of qualitative data used to label or name variables.
It does not carry any numeric value.
Species: German Shepherd or Pug
Gender: Female or Male
Colours: Red or Blue or Yellow
Habitat: Grassland or Wetland or Forest
Each category is a distinct label, with no ranking or order among them.
Ordinal (ranked)
• Ordinal data classifies variables into categories that have a natural order but where the
distances between the categories are not necessarily uniform or known.
• Size: Small<Medium<Large
• Age: Juvenile<Subadult<Adult
• Elevation:Low elevation< Mid elevation < High elevation
• Brightness: Dull<Moderately bright< Very bright
• Can be assigned numbers, cannot take the advantage of taking the properties of numbers
Numeric Data
Numeric data represents numbers.
Used for counting or measuring real-world values.
Supports mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division.
Discrete: Values are whole numbers. You Continuous: Values can include decimals.
count them.
You measure them.
Example: number of students, number of
Example: height, weight, time,
calls, number of items.
temperature.
Aspect Discrete Data Continuous Data
Represents countable Represents measurable
Definition items, often in whole quantities that can take
numbers. any value within a range.
Number of students in
Height of students, time
Examples a class, number of
taken to run a race.
cars in a parking lot.
Numerical Values are distinct Values can be any number
Representatio and separate (e.g., 0, within a given range (e.g.,
n 1, 2, 3). 5.4, 7.25, 9.0).
Supports a wide range of
Can perform
mathematical operations,
Mathematical arithmetic operations
including addition,
Operations like addition and
subtraction, multiplication,
counting.
and division.
Interval Data (Numeric)
•Values follow a low to high scale.
•Equal gaps between numbers.
•You can compare differences, but not ratios.
•Example: Temperature (°C or °F)
Ratio Data (Numeric)
•Values follow a low to high scale
•Differences and ratios are meaningful
•You can say twice, half, three times etc.
•Examples:
• Length
• Area
• Weight
• Counts (number of students, number of books)
Circular (Cyclic) Numeric Data
Values repeat in a cycle
No fixed beginning or end
After the maximum value, it goes back to the minimum
Examples:
Angle (0°–360°, then repeats)
Direction (N, E, S, W)
Time of day (24-hour cycle)
Months of the year (January → December → January)
Normal arithmetic doesn’t work because values wrap around
(example: 350° and 10° are only 20° apart)
Type of Data Based on structure of Values
Type of Data Based on Data Format