Which measure of central tendency is typically used for nominal data?

Which measure of central tendency is typically used for nominal data?

• A. Mode
• B. Mean
• C. Median
• D. Geometric mean

Answer: (A)

Nominal data are categories that are just labels with no inherent order. The central tendency that makes sense is the category that occurs most often—the mode—because it identifies the most frequent category without requiring any arithmetic. Mean and median require numerical values and ranking, which you don’t have with labels like types or categories, so they aren’t meaningful here. The geometric mean is also a numerical measure used for positive data on a multiplicative scale, not for categorical labels. If there’s a tie for the most frequent category, you’d report all the modes.

Nominal data are categories that are just labels with no inherent order. The central tendency that makes sense is the category that occurs most often—the mode—because it identifies the most frequent category without requiring any arithmetic. Mean and median require numerical values and ranking, which you don’t have with labels like types or categories, so they aren’t meaningful here. The geometric mean is also a numerical measure used for positive data on a multiplicative scale, not for categorical labels. If there’s a tie for the most frequent category, you’d report all the modes.