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Categorical data is the statistical data type consisting of categorical variables or of data that has been converted into that form, for example as grouped data. More specifically, categorical data may derive from observations made of qualitative data that are summarised as counts or cross tabulations, or from observations of quantitative data ...
In mathematics and statistics, a quantitative variable may be continuous or discrete if it is typically obtained by measuring or counting, respectively. [1] If it can take on two particular real values such that it can also take on all real values between them (including values that are arbitrarily or infinitesimally close together), the variable is continuous in that interval. [2]
If the data being analyzed is categorical, then the only measure of central tendency that can be used is the mode. However, if the data is numerical in nature ( ordinal or interval / ratio ) then the mode, median, or mean can all be used to describe the data.
The concept of data type is similar to the concept of level of measurement, but more specific. For example, count data requires a different distribution (e.g. a Poisson distribution or binomial distribution) than non-negative real-valued data require, but both fall under the same level of measurement (a ratio scale).
Since no single form of classification is appropriate for all data sets, a large toolkit of classification algorithms has been developed. The most commonly used include: [ 9 ] Artificial neural networks – Computational model used in machine learning, based on connected, hierarchical functions Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect ...
Such distinctions can often be loosely correlated with data type in computer science, in that dichotomous categorical variables may be represented with the Boolean data type, polytomous categorical variables with arbitrarily assigned integers in the integral data type, and continuous variables with the real data type involving floating-point ...
The distinction between quantitative and categorical variables is important because the two types require different methods of visualization. Two primary types of information displays are tables and graphs. A table contains quantitative data organized into rows and columns with categorical labels. It is primarily used to look up specific values.
A variable used to associate each data point in a set of observations, or in a particular instance, to a certain qualitative category is a categorical variable. Categorical variables have two types of scales, ordinal and nominal. [1] The first type of categorical scale is dependent on natural ordering, levels that are defined by a sense of quality.