Types Of Data
This lesson covers:
- Primary vs secondary data
- Qualitative vs quantitive data
- Discrete vs continuous data
What is data?
Data is a collective name for information that is recorded for statistical purposes. There are many different types of data.
Primary vs secondary data Primary data is data that you (or your organisation) collect yourself. For example, if you measure the height of other students in your class, those measurements would be primary data. |
Secondary data is data that has been collected by someone else. For example, if you found a list of the populations of each country on the internet. |
If you gather data by interviewing people, is the information you collect primary or secondary data?
Primary data
Secondary data
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If you gather data by reading reports, is the information you collect primary or secondary data?
Primary data
Secondary data
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If you gather data by running an experiment, is the information you collect primary or secondary data?
Secondary data
Primary data
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Qualitative vs quantitative data Qualitative data is descriptive and is usually given in words, not numbers. For example, the colour of somebody's clothes, the street somebody lives on, or the quality of food at a restaurant. |
Quantitative data measures quantities using numbers. For example, the number of books in a bag, the height of students in a class, or the number of minutes it rains for each day. |
Which of the following are examples of qualitative data?
Area of a field
Days of the week
Volume of a liquid
Religion
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Which of the following are examples of quantitative data?
Hair colour
Weight
Income
Native language
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Discrete vs continuous data There are two types of quantitive data: discrete data and continuous data. |
Discrete data can only be certain exact values. For example, the number of books in a bag is discrete data because you can only have a whole number of books, you can't have half a book. |
Continuous data can take any value within a range. For example, the height of a student would be continuous because it doesn't have to be a whole number of metres or centimetres, it could be something like 172.31 cm and go to as many decimal places as the measurement device allows. |
Discrete and continuous data are subgroups of which type of data?
Qualitative data
Quantitative data
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Which of the following are examples of discrete data?
Temperature of water
Wind speed
Population of a country
Number of marbles in jar
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Which of the following are examples of continous data?
Time of a car journey
Number of days with a temperature lower than 10°C
Number of students in a class
Air temperature
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