Types of Data (AQA Level 3 Mathematical Studies (Core Maths)): Revision Note
Exam code: 1350
Qualitative & Quantitative Data
What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative data?
Qualitative data is usually given in words rather than numbers to describe something
For example, the colour of a car
Quantitative data uses numbers which count or measure something
For example, the number of pets that someone has
What other types of data are there?
Discrete data is quantitative data that needs to be counted
Discrete data can only take specific values from a set of (usually finite) values
For example, the number of times a coin is flipped until a ‘tails’ is obtained
Continuous data is quantitative data that needs to be measured
Continuous data can take any value within a range of infinite values
For example, the height of a person
Some quantities can be defined as either discrete or continuous depending on the context and purpose of the data
For example, someone's age
If you mean how many years old a person is then this is discrete
If you mean how long a person has been alive then this is continuous
Worked Example
Five different data collection situations are described below.
(i) The weight of mice in a population.
(ii) The shoe size of children in a group.
(iii) The length of leaves from an oak tree.
(iv) The foot length of adults from a particular country.
(v) The number of minutes taken for a puzzle to be completed.
For each situation, state whether the type of data collected is discrete or continuous.
(i) The weight of mice in a population.
The weight of each mouse would be measured using a set of scales
Continuous data
(ii) The shoe size of children in a group.
Shoe size can only be defined using set numbers
Discrete data
(iii) The length of leaves from an oak tree.
The length of each leaf would be measured using a ruler
Continuous data
(iv) The foot length of adults from a particular country.
The foot length of each adult would be measured using a ruler
Continuous data
(v) The number of minutes taken for a puzzle to be completed.
Because the situation specifies the 'number of minutes' these can be counted discretely
Discrete data
Primary & Secondary Data
What is the difference between primary and secondary data?
Primary data is collected by the person carrying out the research
This could be through questionnaires, surveys, experiments etc
Secondary data has been collected previously by someone else
This could be found on the internet or through other research sources
Secondary data has often been processed to make it easier to use
E.g. sorting the data into categories or groups
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