categóricos

Categóricos refers to a type of variable in statistics and data analysis. These are variables whose values can only take on a limited, and usually fixed, number of possible values. These values represent distinct categories or groups, rather than numerical quantities. Categóricos variables are often described as qualitative, meaning they describe qualities or characteristics of individuals or observations.

There are two main types of categóricos variables: nominal and ordinal. Nominal variables are those where the categories have no inherent order or ranking. Examples include hair color (blonde, brown, black) or gender (male, female, non-binary). The categories are simply labels. Ordinal variables, on the other hand, do have a meaningful order or ranking among their categories. For instance, a customer satisfaction survey might use categories like "very dissatisfied," "dissatisfied," "neutral," "satisfied," and "very satisfied." While we know "very satisfied" is better than "dissatisfied," the precise difference in satisfaction between each category is not quantifiable.

Understanding whether a variable is categóricos is crucial for choosing appropriate statistical methods. For example, measures of central tendency like the mean are not suitable for categóricos data, while the mode (the most frequent category) is. Similarly, certain types of graphs, such as bar charts or pie charts, are commonly used to visualize categóricos data.