For each of the following, determine whether the variable being measured is discrete or
continuous and explain your answer.
a. Social networking (number of daily minutes on Facebook)? Continuous – Minutes would be a ration variable it increase steadily in tiny fractions instead of jumping from category to category. One general way to tell if data is continuous is to ask yourself if it is possible for the data to take on values that are fractions or decimals. If your answer is yes, this is usually continuous data
b. Family size (number of siblings): Discrete - data usually occurs in a case where we are counting something (using whole numbers)
c. Preference between digital or analog watch? Discrete – because this can be analyzed as a nominal or ordinal variable. Discrete data usually occurs in a case where there are only a certain number of values.
d. Number of correct answers on a statistics quiz? Discrete – because there is not an infinite number of values, therefore this data is discrete. Also, if we were to draw a number line and place each possible value on it, we would see a space between each pair of values.
continuous and explain your answer.
a. Social networking (number of daily minutes on Facebook)? Continuous – Minutes would be a ration variable it increase steadily in tiny fractions instead of jumping from category to category. One general way to tell if data is continuous is to ask yourself if it is possible for the data to take on values that are fractions or decimals. If your answer is yes, this is usually continuous data
b. Family size (number of siblings): Discrete - data usually occurs in a case where we are counting something (using whole numbers)
c. Preference between digital or analog watch? Discrete – because this can be analyzed as a nominal or ordinal variable. Discrete data usually occurs in a case where there are only a certain number of values.
d. Number of correct answers on a statistics quiz? Discrete – because there is not an infinite number of values, therefore this data is discrete. Also, if we were to draw a number line and place each possible value on it, we would see a space between each pair of values.
