categorical scale

n. A measurement scale that divides responses into category labels with no numerical meaning. Also called discrete or symbolic scales, categorical scales are typically used for data labeling. If categorical scales have no explicit ordering on the category labels, they are nominal scales (e.g., gender). If categorical scales have an inherent ordering of labels, then they are ordinal scales (e.g., rank). The data from categorical scales can be analyzed via nonparametric measures.

- BJM