Ryan is collecting data on the names that people give their pets.  What type of categorical data is he collecting?

Ryan is collecting nominal categorical data. This type of data refers to categories that do not have a specific order or ranking. In the context of pet names, each name represents a distinct category, such as "Bella," "Max," or "Charlie." These names can be classified but cannot be quantitatively compared; for instance, there isn't a ranking that indicates one name is "better" or "worse" than another.

Nominal data is one of the simplest forms of data collection because it simply involves labeling. This categorization helps Ryan analyze trends or preferences in pet naming without implying any hierarchy or relationship among the names. Thus, the findings could reflect popularity or frequency of specific names among pet owners in a given dataset.