Chapter 4, Problem 1MCQ

To determine

Identify the term which is appropriate answer for the given examples which include gold, silver and bronze medals.

Answer to Problem 1MCQ

Option b. Gold, silver, and bronze medals would be examples of ordinal data.

Explanation of Solution

Justification for correct and incorrect answer:

a.

Nominal data: This is not the correct choice as the nominal data refer to the simplest form of data. The examples of nominal data are hair color, gender, and ethnic groups. If we have a set of data about people with different hair color, we can count the number of individuals who fit into the same hair color category, but we cannot rank it, nor we can take an average or do any other further calculations beyond counting.

b.

Ordinal data: This option is the correct option because the ordinal data refer to the increased complexity but still categorized as qualitative data. Ordinal data can also be counted and categorized like nominal data but can go an additional step further which involves that the categories can also be ranked. The examples of ordinal data include gold, silver, and bronze medals, 1–5 rating scales on teacher evaluations, and letter grades.

c.

Structured data: This option is incorrect because the structured data is the data which are organized and remain in a fixed width with a record or a file. Such data are embedded in a relational database or spreadsheet and are quickly searchable by the search algorithms.

d.

Test data: This is the incorrect option because it is the set of existing data which is used for evaluation of the data model. The classification algorithm tries to predict the class of the test data. It compares its prediction to the previously assigned class. This comparison can be used to evaluate the accuracy level of the model or the probability that the model will assign the correct class.