Lecture 1 - Types of Data Flashcards
Data
Unit/individual
An object
What we measure
e.g. Person, Cell, Animal
Data
Variable
A characteristic of a unit
e.g. hair colour, flipper length
Qualitative Variable
Nominal
Descriptive
No order
e.g. hair colour, program of study
Qualitative Variable
Ordinal
Descriptive
Can be ranked
e.g. letter grades; S, M, L, XL
Quantitative Variable
Discrete
Numeric
Countable Values
e.g. # of siblings
Quantitative Variable
Continuous
Numeric
Infinite values
e.g. height, weight, age, money
Can be measued “in theory” to an infinite degree of accuracy
Data
Examples
Type of Data
How many classes are you taking this term?
Quantitative - Discrete
Type of Data
On what day of the week were you born?
Qualitative - Nominal
Type of Data
How many science fiction books have you read?
Qualitative - Discrete
Type of Data
Do you consider yourself an “early bird” or a “night owl”?
Qualitative - Nominal/Binary
Type of Data
How old are you?
Quantitative - Continuous
Infinite ways to describe your age (theoretically)
Why is this NOT a variable?
What percentage of students in this class were born on Monday?
no range of answers; a number that summarizes an answer
Why is this NOT a variable?
What is the average number of science fiction books read by a student in the class?
no range of answers; a number that summarizes an answer
These are statistics, not parameters
