An ordinal scale is a type of measurement that ranks items or individuals based on a specific attribute. It provides a clear order but does not quantify the difference between the ranks. For example, in a race, the positions of the runners (1st, 2nd, 3rd) indicate their performance relative to each other, but the scale does not reveal how much faster one runner was compared to another. Ordinal scales are commonly used in surveys and questionnaires, where respondents might rate their satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 5. Here, the numbers represent an order of preference, but the difference between each number is not necessarily equal. This makes ordinal scales useful for understanding relative standings without precise measurements.