What distinguishes ordinal data from nominal data?

Ordinal data is characterized by the presence of a rank order, which means that the data can be organized in a meaningful sequence based on a certain criterion. This is a critical distinction from nominal data, which merely categorizes information without any implied ranking or order among the categories. For example, consider survey responses like "satisfied," "neutral," and "dissatisfied." In this case, the responses can be arranged in an order based on their sentiment, which indicates that "satisfied" is better than "neutral," and "neutral" is better than "dissatisfied."

In contrast, nominal data consists of distinct categories that do not convey any hierarchical relationship. Examples include types of fruit (apple, banana, orange) or colors (red, blue, green) where the categories do not imply any ranking. Therefore, the presence of a ranking order in ordinal data critically defines it as a distinct type of data compared to nominal data.