healthcare analytics final exam
questions and answers
qualitative data - Answer-§ Describes observations about a subject
§ Typically, free text or observations
§ May be recoded or placed into categories for analysis
§ Example:
· A nurse describes a patient as having a pale skin tone
· Survey question: what do you like most about this course?
§ Data scales typically used for recoding qualitative data:
· Nominal: categories without a natural order
o Diagnosis codes
o Clinical units
o Colors
· Ordinal: categories with a natural order
o Patient satisfaction surveys
o Patient severity scores
o Evaluation and management code levels
quantitative data - Answer-§ Naturally numeric
§ May be categorical (ordinal or nominal)
§ Data scales found in quantitative analysis
· Interval: numeric values where the distance between 2 values meaning, but there is
no true zero and the interpretation is not preserved when multiplying/dividing
o Temperature, dates
· Ratio: numeric values where zero has meaning and multiplying/dividing values has
meaning
o Length of stay, age, weight
nominal data (categorical data) - Answer-§ Lowest level of measurement
§ "nominal" means "pertaining to a name"
§ Observations organized into categories
· No recognition of order within these categories
· For example
o True/false
o Male/female
o Types of insurance carriers
o Patient occupations
§ Numbers may be used to represent categories
· For example:
o Males may be listed as 1, females as 2
o Persons may be grouped according to blood type, where 1 represents type A; 2,
type B; 3, type AB; and 4, type O
The sequences of the values are not important. The numbers simply serve labels for
the same piece of info
ordinal data (categorical data) - Answer-§ Values are in ordered categories
, § "ordinal" means to "put something in order"
§ On the ordinal scale, the order of the numbers is meaningful, not the number itself
· The intervals or distance between categories are not necessarily equals
· For example
o Head injuries may be classified according to level of severity, where 4 is fatal; 3
severe; 2 moderate; and 1 minor
interval data (categorical data) - Answer-§ Include units of equal size
§ No zero point
§ For example
· Temperature in Fahrenheit degrees
o The intervals between the values are the same
o The most important characteristic is that the intervals between values are equal
ratio data (categorical data) - Answer-§ The highest level of measurement
§ There is a defined unit of measure
§ There is a real zero point
§ The intervals between successive values are equal
§ May be displayed by units of equal size placed on a scale starting with zero and
this can be manipulated mathematically, such as 0,5,10,15, and 20
§ For example
· Age
o The difference between any 2 years would be the same (the difference between
age 1 and 2 is 1 year; the different between 55 and 56 is one year and so on)
o There is a "zero point" in that zero would be the absence of age or birth
o Someone who is 100 years old is twice as old as someone who is 50 years old
discrete data (numerical data) - Answer-§ Finite numbers
§ Only specified values
§ For example
· The number of children in a family
o A family can have 2 or 3 children but cannot have 2.23 or 3.5 children
§ Other examples
· The number of motor vehicle accidents in a particular community
· The number of times a woman has given birth
· The number of new cases of cancer cases in your state within the past 5 years
· The number of beds available in your hospital
continuous data (numerical data) - Answer-§ The measure of quantity will usually be
continuous
§ It can take on a fractional value
§ For example
· A patient's temperature may be 102.6
· Height—one could day that someone is approximately 6 feet tall, refine it to 5 feet
10 inches and refine it still further to 5 feet tall 10 ½ inches
· Age—you may have been 20 years old on your last birthday, but you are 20 plus
some part of another year
validity - Answer-§ Accuracy of the data
§ Ability of the data to measure the attribute it is intended to measure
questions and answers
qualitative data - Answer-§ Describes observations about a subject
§ Typically, free text or observations
§ May be recoded or placed into categories for analysis
§ Example:
· A nurse describes a patient as having a pale skin tone
· Survey question: what do you like most about this course?
§ Data scales typically used for recoding qualitative data:
· Nominal: categories without a natural order
o Diagnosis codes
o Clinical units
o Colors
· Ordinal: categories with a natural order
o Patient satisfaction surveys
o Patient severity scores
o Evaluation and management code levels
quantitative data - Answer-§ Naturally numeric
§ May be categorical (ordinal or nominal)
§ Data scales found in quantitative analysis
· Interval: numeric values where the distance between 2 values meaning, but there is
no true zero and the interpretation is not preserved when multiplying/dividing
o Temperature, dates
· Ratio: numeric values where zero has meaning and multiplying/dividing values has
meaning
o Length of stay, age, weight
nominal data (categorical data) - Answer-§ Lowest level of measurement
§ "nominal" means "pertaining to a name"
§ Observations organized into categories
· No recognition of order within these categories
· For example
o True/false
o Male/female
o Types of insurance carriers
o Patient occupations
§ Numbers may be used to represent categories
· For example:
o Males may be listed as 1, females as 2
o Persons may be grouped according to blood type, where 1 represents type A; 2,
type B; 3, type AB; and 4, type O
The sequences of the values are not important. The numbers simply serve labels for
the same piece of info
ordinal data (categorical data) - Answer-§ Values are in ordered categories
, § "ordinal" means to "put something in order"
§ On the ordinal scale, the order of the numbers is meaningful, not the number itself
· The intervals or distance between categories are not necessarily equals
· For example
o Head injuries may be classified according to level of severity, where 4 is fatal; 3
severe; 2 moderate; and 1 minor
interval data (categorical data) - Answer-§ Include units of equal size
§ No zero point
§ For example
· Temperature in Fahrenheit degrees
o The intervals between the values are the same
o The most important characteristic is that the intervals between values are equal
ratio data (categorical data) - Answer-§ The highest level of measurement
§ There is a defined unit of measure
§ There is a real zero point
§ The intervals between successive values are equal
§ May be displayed by units of equal size placed on a scale starting with zero and
this can be manipulated mathematically, such as 0,5,10,15, and 20
§ For example
· Age
o The difference between any 2 years would be the same (the difference between
age 1 and 2 is 1 year; the different between 55 and 56 is one year and so on)
o There is a "zero point" in that zero would be the absence of age or birth
o Someone who is 100 years old is twice as old as someone who is 50 years old
discrete data (numerical data) - Answer-§ Finite numbers
§ Only specified values
§ For example
· The number of children in a family
o A family can have 2 or 3 children but cannot have 2.23 or 3.5 children
§ Other examples
· The number of motor vehicle accidents in a particular community
· The number of times a woman has given birth
· The number of new cases of cancer cases in your state within the past 5 years
· The number of beds available in your hospital
continuous data (numerical data) - Answer-§ The measure of quantity will usually be
continuous
§ It can take on a fractional value
§ For example
· A patient's temperature may be 102.6
· Height—one could day that someone is approximately 6 feet tall, refine it to 5 feet
10 inches and refine it still further to 5 feet tall 10 ½ inches
· Age—you may have been 20 years old on your last birthday, but you are 20 plus
some part of another year
validity - Answer-§ Accuracy of the data
§ Ability of the data to measure the attribute it is intended to measure
