We need to be able to distinguish between qualitative and quantitative data (the latter one is generally more interesting to us as mathematicians.

We also need to be able to distinguish between quantitative data which is discrete and quantitative data which is continuous.

Let’s try some examples with the teacher and then complete the exercise below

Exercise

Let’s complete exercise 6A from page 82 of the textbook:

The answers are below:

Collecting data

• Let’s have a class discussion about what methods you would use to collect different types of date, e.g.:
  • The world’s highest mountain;
  • The most popular TV show among students in the school;
  • The boiling point of an unknown liquid that you have discovered.

Some things we should also think about when collecting data are sample size and degree of accuracy of measurement (for instance with age of person).