Which of the following is an example of ordinal data?

The example of ordinal data is accurately identified as pain scale ratings. Ordinal data is characterized by a rank order but does not imply a consistent scale of measurement between the ranks. In the case of pain scale ratings, such as a scale from 0 to 10, while you can say that a pain rating of 7 indicates more pain than a rating of 4, the difference between those two ratings is not uniform or equal. For example, the difference in pain perception between a rating of 3 and 4 may not be the same as between 7 and 8. Thus, pain scales reflect a subjective assessment of pain intensity that establishes a hierarchy but does not provide information about the precise quantitative difference between the ratings.

In contrast, the other choices represent different types of data. Age in years, height in centimeters, and temperature in Celsius are examples of interval or ratio data, which have a meaningful scale and allow for arithmetic operations. With these types of data, the intervals between values are consistent, allowing for comparisons of actual quantities rather than just an order or ranking.