I am new to Stata.

One of the packages I have prior experience with is SPSS.

In SPSS, one can define an Independent Variable as Scale, or Ordinal, or Nominal (the last 2 are each a type of Categorical Variable).

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An example of an Ordinal Categorical Variable could be:

What is the highest level of Formal Education you have completed:

1 Less than high school (Grades 1-8 or no formal schooling)
2 High school incomplete (Grades 9-11 or Grade 12 with NO diploma)
3 High school graduate (Grade 12 with diploma or GED certificate)
4 Some college, no degree (includes community college)
5 Two year associate degree from a college or university
6 Four year college or university degree/Bachelor’s degree (e.g., BS, BA, AB)
7 Some postgraduate or professional schooling, no postgraduate degree
8 Postgraduate or professional degree, including master’s, doctorate, medical or law degree (e.g., MA, MS, PhD, MD, JD)

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An example of a Nominal Categorical Variable could be:

What is your Marital Status:

1 Married
2 Living with a partner
3 Divorced
4 Separated
5 Widowed
6 Never been married
7 Single

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I've googled around for the phrases like "ordinal stata", and all that seems to come up is examples of Ordinal Logistic Regression where the Dependent Variable (not an Independent Variable) is Ordinal.


My questions:
a) does Stata differentiate between Ordinal and Nominal Categorical Independent Variables (when doing something like, say, Linear Regression or Logistic Regression)?
b) if the answer to (a) is "Yes", then how does one tell Stata whether an Independent Variable is Ordinal or Nominal?