Discrete and Continuous Data

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Discrete and Continuous DataWe learned that Quantitative data is numerical information (numbers) Quantitative data can be Discrete or Continuous: Discrete data can only take certain values (like whole numbers) Continuous data can take any value (within a range) Let’s go into more detail Discrete Data Think of discrete data as things you can count in whole numbers. You can't have a fraction or a part of it. Example: Number of students who prefer Gulab Jamun. You can have 6 or 9, or 10 students who like Jalebi, but you can't have 6.5 students. Number of students absent from a class. You can have 3 students absent or 5 students absent, but not 3.5 students absent. Key idea: If you can ask "How many?" and the answer is a whole number, it's usually discrete data. Continuous Data Think of continuous data as things you can measure. This type of data can take on any value within a range, including fractions and decimals. Example: The height of the tallest mountains. A mountain's height can be 8848 meters, and it's possible for another to be 6962.5 meters. The measurement can be very precise. The weight of students in your class. A student's weight could be 40 kg, 40.2 kg, or even 40.25 kg. Key idea: If you can ask "How much?" and the answer could be a value with a decimal, it's usually continuous data. Summary