What kind of data would you gather from a survey asking for participants' favorite fruits?

Gathering data from a survey asking participants for their favorite fruits results in nominal data because the responses can be categorized but not ranked or measured in a meaningful numerical way.

Nominal data consists of distinct categories without any inherent order among them. In this case, the different types of fruits (e.g., apples, bananas, cherries) represent different categories. Each participant's favorite fruit is simply a classification rather than a value that can be compared quantitatively, ranking them in any sense does not apply.

Other types of data, like ordinal data, would imply a specific order or ranking among the fruits, which is not relevant here as favorite fruits are subjective and not ordered in any way. Interval data involves numeric scales where we can perform mathematical operations, and continuous data consists of values that can take on any number within a given range, such as height or weight. Since the favorite fruits do not fall into these categories, they do not apply in this context. Thus, nominal data is the most appropriate classification for the responses to the survey.