​We all have to collect and analyse data these days, but ​not many know what the basic data types are. Most understand that ​you can have numerical data types and categorical data types, but ​few delve deeper into the details.

It is so important to your whole study that you understand the different data types and what you can do with them, and - fortunately - it's really simple!

​And I've got just the thing for you - I'm going to show you all the different categorical data types that you'll encounter​ - after I've tested your knowledge with a short, fun ​categorical data types quiz.

​Get started here to test your knowledge:

Introduction to ​Categorical Data Types

​To help you understand a little more about ​categorical data types, I've put together a little graphic to help you out.

And this is what ​it looks like:

So, how did you do in ​our ​categorical data types quiz?

​The One Difference Between Ordinal, Nominal & Dichotomous Data You Need to Know​

There are many similarities between Ordinal, Nominal and Dichotomous data. They are all:

But the one thing that allows you to distinguish between each of them is:

​So the way to distinguish between Ordinal and Nominal data is to ask whether the categories are ordered, and to distinguish between Dichotomous and the others is to ask how many categories there are.

It's really simple, when it all comes down to it...

​3 Types of Categorical Data - Summary

The bottom line is that learning to distinguish between ​categorical data types is simple, but important.

There are only ​3 different types​ - Ordinal, Nominal and Dichotomous - and each one has its ​uses. Once you know them all and what you use them for, it becomes simple to choose the correct type for your study.

And when you have the correct type right from the start, everything else falls into place.

​How to Analyse Categorical Survey Data in Excel and in R

I look forward to seeing you on the inside!

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