AQ1.3: Activity Questions 3

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Activity focus

• categorical vs numerical
• nominal vs ordinal
• discrete vs continuous
• coded categories

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Practice set

1. Classify each variable:
   • jersey number
   • number of pages in a book
   • temperature in Celsius
   • customer satisfaction (low, medium, high)
2. A survey codes education level as 1, 2, 3, 4.
   • Is this automatically numerical?
   • Why?
3. Explain the difference between discrete and continuous data with one example each.

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Answer key

1. • jersey number: categorical nominal if used as an identifier
   • number of pages: numerical discrete
   • temperature in Celsius: numerical continuous
   • satisfaction: categorical ordinal
2. No.
   • If the numbers are codes for categories, the variable is categorical.
3. • discrete: countable whole-number values, example number of students
   • continuous: measured values on a scale, example height

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MCQ traps

• Jersey number looks numerical but often works only as a label.
• Rank is ordered, but differences in rank are not equal measured gaps.