The purpose of this article is to explain what a Nominal Variable is and to aid in the set-up/use of Nominal Variable response sets within Course Evaluations.
What is a Nominal Variable?
A Nominal Variable is a variable with values which have no numerical value (mean), such as gender or ethnicity.
What kinds of question sets are Nominal Variables good for?
The Nominal Variable response set configuration is perfect for demographic-type questions where a mean score and other statistics are not needed. They are good for Voting surveys, Yes/No questions, Gender, Ethnicity, School Major, and Hours of Study just to name a few.
Where do users get started?
The nominal variable set-up is located under the Response Sets in the Components section of the Course Evaluations Control Center. The general premise is if a response set is better served with frequency distribution (as opposed to a mean, group median, median, mode, so on…), the following reporting features should be set:
- Suppress graphs - under Graphing Options
- Show frequency distribution only - under Hide Advanced Stats
- Show responses vertically - a Render Option of Vertical (sort by responses received) is chosen for ideal reporting layout and Unanswered Choices are hidden. This is especially useful for large response sets typically used in voting surveys.
Before and After Samples:
The graphs and mean scores do not display well for this type of question.
By rearranging the response set options, users will not see graphs and responses will display by frequency:
The image below is an example of a larger response set displayed in a vertical sort by number of responses received. This sort is perfect for larger response set types such as voting surveys.
