Categorical Variable

In data science, a categorical variable is a variable that can take on one of a limited, and usually fixed, number of possible values, known as categories or levels. These categories can be nominal, ordinal, or binary. Nominal categories are those that do not have any inherent order or ranking, such as colors or types of animals. Ordinal categories have a natural order or ranking, such as education level or income bracket. Binary categories have only two possible values, such as yes/no or true/false. Categorical variables are often used in statistical analysis to group data into meaningful subsets based on shared characteristics. They can also be used as predictors in machine learning models, where they are typically converted into numerical values through a process called encoding.
Your Previous Searches
Random Picks
  • Redundancy: In Data Science, redundancy refers to the duplication of data or information in a dataset or system. Redundancy can occur intentionally or unintentionally, and can have both positive and negative effects on data analysis. On one hand, redun ... Read More >>
  • Anderson-Darling Test: The Anderson-Darling test is a statistical test that measures whether a given data sample is drawn from a specific probability distribution. It is a modification of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and gives more weight to the tails than the mid ... Read More >>
  • Geographic Coordinate: A geographic coordinate is a set of two or three numbers used to specify a location on the Earth's surface. The two numbers are latitude and longitude, which represent the angular distance of a location from the equator and the prime meridi ... Read More >>
Top News

TikTok goes dark in the US...

TikTok’s app was removed from prominent app stores on Saturday just before a federal law that would have banned the popular social media platform was scheduled to go into effect...

News Source: ABC News on 2025-01-19

With a US ban on TikTok hours away, Trump says he 'most likely' will grant an ex...

President-elect Donald Trump says he “most likely” will give TikTok 90 more days to work out a deal that would allow the popular video-sharing platform to avoid a U.S. ban...

News Source: ABC News on 2025-01-18

As the wildfires grew closer, people with disabilities say they often had to fen...

When people with disabilities aren’t included in disaster plans, the results can be deadly, advocates say. They advise that people make plans in case of wildfires or other emergencies....

News Source: CNN on 2025-01-18

These are Sam Altman's predictions on how the world might change with AI...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has made several predictions about where we're headed on AGI, superintelligence, agentic AI — and when we might get there....

News Source: Business Insider on 2025-01-18

How scientists with disabilities are making research labs and fieldwork more acc...

Disabled scientists are trying to make research labs and fieldwork more accessible...

News Source: ABC News on 2025-01-18