Qualitative data is data that can only be written in words rather than numbers, an example being people's favourite colour. Qualitative data can be grouped just like numerical data.

Quantitative data is data that can be written as a number, such as the height of students. Quantitative data is dealt with depending on if it is discrete or continuous.

Discrete data is numerical data that can only take specific values. An example of this would be the number of people in a class, since counting people can only give integers. Discrete data is presented on a frequency table where the frequency of each value for a given data set is counted.

Continuous data is numerical data that can take any value within a given range. An example of this would be height, as it can take any numerical value within a realistic range. Continuous data is presented in a frequency table by grouping it, since there are infinitely many possibilities of the values of it, due to the fact that it can take any value.

When data is first collected, it is basically a list of values and thus it is ungrouped. Grouped data is when this data is bundled together into categories.

1

A researcher is collecting data about how many devices people own. Explain why this is not qualitative data.

2

A researcher is asking people leaving a shopping mall how long they spent in the mall. Is the data being collected qualitative or quantitative?

3

Explain why time is recorded as continuous data.

4

A teacher asks his students what their favourite subject in school is. He obtains the following results: Maths, Physics, History, Geography, Maths, Biology, Biology, Chemistry, History. Place this data in a frequency table.

5

Define discrete data.