Nominal, ordinal and scale

Today Erik from the Netherlands sent us the following question:

What is the diffrence between nominal, ordinal and scale?

In SPSS you can specify the level of measurement as scale (numeric data on an interval or ratio scale), ordinal, or nominal. Nominal and ordinal data can be either string alphanumeric) or numeric.But what is the difference?

Nominal.
A variable can be treated as nominal when its values represent categories with no intrinsic ranking; for example, the department of the company in which an employee works. Examples of nominal variables include region, zip code, or religious affiliation.A variable can be treated as nominal when its values represent categories with no intrinsic ranking; for example, the department of the company in which an employee works. Examples of nominal variables include region, zip code, or religious affiliation.

5 comments May 3rd, 2006 mark