Ordered Categorical Variables in Univariate Analysis using Excel

In the previous lecture, you learnt how to perform univariate analysis on unordered categorical variables. Let's now see how to do the same on ordered categorical variables.

Before that, think about the type of analysis you would perform on ordered categorical variables.

You may have had some experience taking power meter readings at least once. It would be interesting to see how meter readings vary across households. Let us look at a case study that Anand did for a power company.

You saw an example of how a simple histogram can reveal interesting insights. This is an extremely important takeaway — whenever you have a continuous or an ordered categorical variable, make sure you plot a histogram or a bar chart and observe any unexpected trends.

Let’s look at a few more examples of univariate analysis revealing hidden patterns.

I’m sure you remember the sleepless nights that exams you gave. For a student, the examiner is an antagonist most of the times, who prevents you from getting the scores you deserve. You might also have been intrigued by questions such as how many students obtained marks similar to yours; how many students were ahead of you; or how many lagged behind. And everyone has an opinion regarding when and where grace marks are justified.

So, let’s use this typical student experience to help you learn univariate analysis. Let us now look at an interesting analysis that Anand conducted on the marks scored by class X students across Tamil Nadu.

You have seen how to conduct univariate analysis on categorical variables. Next, you will learn to conduct univariate analysis on quantitative (or numeric) variables.