Example of ordinal data

Ordinal data is characterized by ranks between the possible values. If we take the example of the Richters scale, we can see that depending on the magnitude, the heartquake can have the following values:

Richter Description Earthquake effects magnitudes Less than 2.0 Micro Micro earthquakes, not felt. 2.0-2.9 Generally not felt, but recorded. Minor 3.0-3.9 Often felt, but rarely causes damage. Noticeable shaking of indoor items, rattling noises. Significant 4.0-4.9 Light damage unlikely. Can cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings over 5.0-5.9 Moderate small regions. At most slight damage to well-designed buildings. 6.0-6.9 7.0-7.9 8.0-8.9 9.0-9.9 10.0+ Strong Major Great Epic Can be destructive in areas up to about 160 kilometers (100 mi) across in populated areas. Can cause serious damage over larger areas. Can cause serious damage in areas several hundred miles across. Devastating in areas several thousand miles across. Never recorded; see below for equivalent seismic energy yield.

By the way, a heartquake of 5.5 magnitudes is more important than one of 3 but less than one 9. This shows that there is an order between the data. In addition, if we have a look to the table below, we can see that despite having the same interval of 0.5, the difference from one point to another in the scale in Joule is not uniform. Therefore, this data is not of an interval type.

Difference of 0.5

Richter Approximate Magnitude 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5

Joule equivalent 63.1 kJ 355 kJ 2.00 MJ 11.2 MJ 63.1 MJ 355 MJ 2.00 GJ 11.2 GJ

Difference of 9.2 MJ Difference of 51.9 MJ

4.0 4.5

63.1 GJ 355 GJ

This is due to the fact that the Richter magnitude of an earthquake is determined from the logarithm of the amplitude of waves recorded by seismographs. Because of the logarithmic basis of the scale, each whole number increase in magnitude represents a tenfold increase in measured amplitude; in terms of energy, each whole number increase corresponds to an increase of about 31.6 times the amount of energy released, and each increase of 0.2 corresponds to a doubling of the energy released.

Example of interval data

Interval data is characterized by a scale of measurement where the distance between any two adjacent units of measurement (or 'intervals') is the same. The zero point is arbitrary and has not the meaning of nothing. The time interval in months between 1.1. 2000 and 1.1.2001 is the same as that between 1.1.2009 and 1.1.2010. One could take as a reference period that one of 1.1.2000, which is considered as the zero point in time. Of course, this does not mean that time does not exist in 1.1.2001.