Social security number is an example of a. a numerical variable. b. a categorical variable. c. either a numerical or a categorical variable. d. a semi-structured variable.

b.a categorical variable.

Explanation:

In numerical variables, such as rainfall measured in inches or the number of sales in a day, the numbers have a numerical meaning. But a categorical variable is a category such as gender and national origin. It can be represented as a number, like the Social security number, but the numbers won´t have a numerical value. If your SSN is bigger than mine, it doesn´t mean that you are greater or at a different level on a scale, because the numbers are used as categories, not as mathematically meaningful.    

the most likely outcome of fewer loon territories is that hawks would increase in proportion because the benefit of victory would be greater. hawks and loons are natural rivals of resources and victories in the game, since the lakes drying up affected the loons, the hawks would be benefited from the drought.