Data is information such as facts or numbers that is used to analyse things.
eg Heights of students in a Year 10 Mathematics class
160cm, 155cm, 154cm, 162.5cm, 170cm, 159cm, 149.5cm, 150cm, 160cm, 165cm, 159cm, 175cm, 157.5cm
Quantitative data is data that is counted or measured or gathered, that is numerical (numbers).
eg 180cm, 7 mins, 80%, etc
Qualitative data is data that is interpreted or descriptive, that is language-based (words).
eg yes, no, brown eyes, male, female, non-binary, etc
This is sometime called categorical data.Â
A category is when items are groups based on shared characteristics.
eg eye colour, gender, etc
If data is quantitative, it can be discrete data or continuous data.
Discrete data is data that is counted. It must be whole numbers.
eg How many 3's come up when you roll a die 100 times.
eg Number of students in a class that finished their homework.
Continuous data is data that is measured. It can take on any value.
eg Height of a Year 10 student = 163.6cm
eg Time to run a 100m race = 12.52 seconds.