What is a key characteristic of ordinal data?

Ordinal data has a key characteristic that allows for a meaningful order among the values, which distinguishes it from nominal data. This means that while you can rank the data points from highest to lowest (or vice versa), the exact differences between these ranks are not uniform or quantifiable. For instance, if survey responses are categorized as "satisfied," "neutral," and "dissatisfied," each category provides a clear ranking, but the difference in satisfaction level between the categories cannot be measured in precise terms. This lack of uniform intervals is what sets ordinal data apart from interval or ratio data, where the distances between values are significant and meaningful.

The other descriptions do not capture the essence of ordinal data adequately. While some data can be counted and sorted into categories, that alone doesn't indicate an order. Similarly, numerical data with constant differences pertains more to interval or ratio data rather than ordinal data, where uniform intervals aren't guaranteed. Lastly, while there can be qualitative descriptions in ordinal data, it's the incorporation of that meaningful order that truly defines its nature.