In the context of data scales, what does an ordinal scale signify?

An ordinal scale signifies a type of data that is organized in a specific order or rank, where the relative positioning of values is meaningful, but the precise differences between those values are not defined. This means that while you can determine which data points are greater or lesser than others, you cannot quantify the exact difference between them. For instance, in a survey where participants rate satisfaction levels from "very dissatisfied" to "very satisfied," the responses can be ordered, but the difference between "satisfied" and "very satisfied" is not numerically defined.

This characteristic is what distinguishes an ordinal scale from other data scales, such as nominal scales, which do not have any order, and interval scales, which have both order and known differences between values. Therefore, the correct option accurately reflects how ordinal scales allow for ranking but do not measure exact differences among ranked items.