A jersey number on players is an example of which type of variable?

• A. No, it is a ratio variable.
• B. No, it is an ordinal variable.
• C. Yes, it is a nominal variable.
• D. Yes, it is a continuous variable.

Answer: (C)

Jersey numbers are used to identify players rather than to measure any quantity. In statistics, a nominal variable is a category with no natural order or quantitative meaning. The digits on a jersey number don’t imply more or less, bigger or smaller, or any rank among players—they simply label individuals. You can tell whether two players share the same number or have different numbers, but you can’t perform arithmetic or meaningful comparisons of magnitude on those numbers. That’s why this is a nominal variable. It isn’t a ratio variable (no true zero or meaningful ratios), it isn’t ordinal (no inherent order), and it isn’t continuous (it doesn’t take a range of values).