Data:
Data are recorded observations made on people, objects, or other things that can be counted, measured, or quantified in some way.
In statistics, data are categorized according to several criteria, for example, according to the type of the values used to quantify the observations e.g. categorical data or continuous data .
Data may be subdivided according to the scale on which these data are measured: see Nominal Scale , Ordinal Scale , Ratio Scale , Interval Scale , Likert Scales .
Another categorization of data types reflects the process by which the data were gathered: see cross-sectional data , longitudinal data , paired replicates data , Panel Data , Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and panel data , Repeated Measures Data , Time-series data .