DA0-002 Data Concepts and Environments Practice Question
A data analyst is working with a dataset that contains a column for customer satisfaction ratings on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means 'very dissatisfied' and 5 means 'very satisfied'. The analyst wants to calculate the median satisfaction score. Which level of measurement does this data represent?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that numeric labels always indicate interval or ratio data, when in fact ordered categories like satisfaction ratings are ordinal.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Ordinal
Customer satisfaction ratings on a 1-5 scale are ordered but the intervals between points are not equal, so they are ordinal. The median is the appropriate measure of central tendency for ordinal data. Nominal data lacks order, interval data requires equal intervals, and ratio data requires a true zero, none of which apply here.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Ratio
Why it's wrong here
Ratio data has all the properties of interval data plus a true zero point, allowing for meaningful ratios. Satisfaction ratings lack a true zero; a rating of 1 does not mean 'no satisfaction'. Thus, ratio is incorrect. Using ratio-level operations like multiplication or division on these scores would be invalid and could mislead the analysis.
- ✓
Ordinal
Why this is correct
Ordinal data has a meaningful order but the intervals between values are not necessarily equal. Satisfaction ratings from 1 to 5 are ordered, but the difference between 1 and 2 may not equal the difference between 4 and 5. The median is a valid measure of central tendency for ordinal data, making this the correct classification.
- ✗
Nominal
Why it's wrong here
Nominal data consists of categories with no inherent order, such as eye color or product type. The satisfaction ratings have a clear order from very dissatisfied to very satisfied, so they are not nominal. Treating them as nominal would ignore the ranking and make the median meaningless, as you cannot compute a median of unordered categories.
- ✗
Interval
Why it's wrong here
Interval data has ordered categories with equal intervals, such as temperature in Celsius. Satisfaction ratings do not have guaranteed equal intervals; the psychological distance between 'dissatisfied' and 'neutral' may differ from that between 'satisfied' and 'very satisfied'. Therefore, interval is not the correct level, and treating it as such could lead to inappropriate arithmetic operations.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,004 original DA0-002 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This DA0-002 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DA0-002 exam.