Basic Statistic Rules

Data level of Measured Phenomena

When measuring geographic phenomena in the field for the collected dataset, we commonly speak about the level of measurement. These out-coming data usually are divided into four levels of measurement:

Nominal data
Ordinal data
Numeric data
- Interval data
- Ratio data

The distinction of these data levels is relevant for the type of map presentation we wish to choose. Ordinal, interval, and ratio can be combined to create quantitative data.
In contrast, to these three data levels, nominal data only describes qualitative information. In the following paragraphs, we will point out the characteristics of each data level.

Thus, in this lesson, for which you need no prerequisites, you will learn the different levels of data measurement. In addition, you will also learn to prepare data for classification, as well as some basic classification rules.