Types of data

Qualitative data is word-based, describing qualities of things. Quantitative data is numerical and records quantities. Qualitative and quantitative data Example 1 Colours of cars is qualitative data. Example 3 Favourite sport is qualitative data. Example 2 Children’s height is quantitative data. Example 6 Temperature is quantitative data. Example 5 Types of tree is qualitative data. Example 4 Distance to school is quantitative data. 2

Favourite crisp flavours Time taken in a cycle race Age of people on a street Type of breakfast cereal Colour of flowers Genre of TV programme Shoe size Speed of a car Qualitative? Quantitative? Group the following as either qualitative or quantitative data 3

QualitativeQuantitative Favourite crisp flavours Time taken in a cycle race Age of people on a street Type of breakfast cereal Colour of flowers Genre of TV programme Shoe size Speed of a car 4

Discrete and continuous data Discrete data can only take on certain individual values. Continuous data can take on any value in a certain range. Example 1 Number of pages in a book is a discrete variable. Example 3 Shoe size is a discrete variable, e.g. 5, 5½, 6, 6½ etc. Not in between. Example 5 Number of people in a race is a discrete variable. Example 2 Length of a film is a continuous variable. Example 4 Temperature is a continuous variable. Example 6 Time taken to run a race is a continuous variable. 5

Volume of a cereal box Population of a town Number of goals in a season Number of matches in a box Length of a crocodile Shirt collar size Speed of a car Temperature of oven Discrete? Continuous? Group the following as either discrete or continuous data 6

Volume of a cereal box Population of a town Number of goals in a season Number of matches in a box Length of a crocodile Shirt collar size Top speed of a car Temperature of oven DiscreteContinuous 7

Primary data is the information that is collected first-hand by researchers. Secondary data is information that is already available. Primary data can be collected by:  Surveys  Interviews  Focus groups  Questionnaires Secondary data can be found :  Internet  Journals  Books  Census data  Newspaper articles  Biographies Primary and secondary data 8

Which should I use for: 1.Celebrities’ favourite breakfasts 2.Average family size 3.Favourite clothes shop for 12–13 year olds 4.Most common pet 5.World’s most popular car ? Why? Justify each of your answers. Primary and secondary data Which do you think is more useful? In which situations? Are there any exceptions? 9

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