MATHEMATICS Data – Types and Sources

Lesson Objectives The aim of this powerpoint is to help you… to recognise the different types of data to appreciate the pros and cons of different sources of data

Types of Data NUMERIC data (previously known as QUANTITATIVE data) involves ONLY numbers but they can be… DISCRETE – usually counted so can only take on certain values (not necessarily whole numbers) OR CONTINUOUS – any type of measurement (e.g. distance, mass, capacity, speed…) CATEGORIC data involves letters or words (and can include numbers too).

Quick Check Let’s see how good you are at identifying what type of data is being collected (i.e. discrete, continuous or categoric). For each situation described, click on the button next to the type of data you think is being collected. You will be told whether you are correct or not. You will then need to click on the continue button.

A) Broken Eggs In a shop egg boxes contain 6 eggs. A shop assistant opens up boxes of eggs and notes how many eggs are broken. Categoric Discrete Continuous

A) Broken Eggs In a shop egg boxes contain 6 eggs. A shop assistant opens up boxes of eggs and notes how many eggs are broken. Categoric DiscreteWell done! Continuous Click here to continue 

A) Broken Eggs In a shop egg boxes contain 6 eggs. A shop assistant opens up boxes of eggs and notes how many eggs are broken. Categoric Discrete Continuous Oops! The number of eggs that might be broken are: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. This is discrete data. Click here to continue 

B) Hair Colour Someone collecting data stands in a busy market square and makes a note of the colour of people’s hair. Categoric Discrete Continuous

B) Hair Colour Someone collecting data stands in a busy market square and makes a note of the colour of people’s hair. Categoric DiscreteWell done! Continuous Click here to continue 

B) Hair Colour Someone collecting data stands in a busy market square and makes a note of the colour of people’s hair. Categoric Discrete Continuous Oops! Possible answers include: brown, fair, black... This is categoric data. Click here to continue 

C) Height A nurse visits a primary school to check on the students’ physical development. One of her checks is measuring their height. Categoric Discrete Continuous

C) Height A nurse visits a primary school to check on the students’ physical development. One of her checks is measuring their height. Categoric DiscreteWell done! Continuous Click here to continue 

C) Height A nurse visits a primary school to check on the students’ physical development. One of her checks is measuring their height. Categoric Discrete Continuous Oops! Height is a measurement (in cm or m or ft…) so this is continuous data. Click here to continue 

D) Shoe Size Another of the nurse’s checks is to find out what shoe size each student has. Categoric Discrete Continuous

D) Shoe Size Another of the nurse’s checks is to find out what shoe size each student has. Categoric DiscreteWell done! Continuous Click here to continue 

D) Shoe Size Another of the nurse’s checks is to find out what shoe size each student has. Categoric Discrete Continuous Oops! UK Shoe Sizes come in whole or half numbers ONLY (nothing in-between). This is discrete data. Click here to continue 

E) Newspaper To find out about their popularity, workers from ‘The Sun’ newspaper are asked to find out from passers by which daily newspaper they usually read. Categoric Discrete Continuous

E) Newspaper To find out about their popularity, workers from ‘The Sun’ newspaper are asked to find out from passers by which daily newspaper they usually read. Categoric DiscreteWell done! Continuous Click here to continue 

E) Newspaper To find out about their popularity, workers from ‘The Sun’ newspaper are asked to find out from passers by which daily newspaper they usually read. Categoric Discrete Continuous Oops! The answers might be: The Sun, The Mail, The Express…. This is categoric data. Click here to continue 

F) Car Registration A data logger photographs the vehicle registration numbers of all vehicles travelling down a one-way street. Categoric Discrete Continuous

F) Car Registration A data logger photographs the vehicle registration numbers of all vehicles travelling down a one-way street. Categoric DiscreteWell done! Continuous Click here to continue 

F) Car Registration A data logger photographs the vehicle registration numbers of all vehicles travelling down a one-way street. Categoric Discrete Continuous Oops! Vehicle registrations include letters as well as numbers. This is categoric data. Click here to continue 

H) Pocket Money Students in a primary school are asked how much pocket money they get each week. Categoric Discrete Continuous

H) Pocket Money Students in a primary school are asked how much pocket money they get each week. Categoric DiscreteWell done! Continuous Click here to continue 

H) Pocket Money Students in a primary school are asked how much pocket money they get each week. Categoric Discrete Continuous Oops! Money is something you count not measure so this is discrete data. Click here to continue 

I) Age Students in a secondary school are asked how old they are. Categoric Discrete Continuous

I) Age Students in a secondary school are asked how old they are. Categoric DiscreteWell done! Continuous Click here to continue 

I) Age Students in a secondary school are asked how old they are. Categoric Discrete Continuous Argue! Technically age is linked to time which is a measurement and therefore continuous data. However, you could argue that we quote age inaccurately using only a whole number of years which we count, and it is therefore discrete! Click here to continue 

I) Age Students in a secondary school are asked how old they are. Categoric Discrete Continuous Oops! Age is numeric. It should be continuous (as it is a measure of time) but you could argue that it is discrete. Click here to continue 

Sources of Data 1 PRIMARY data is information collected by the person (or the company and their employees) who is going to use the data. PRO: The benefit of collecting primary data is that you can collect the exact data you need for whatever task you are undertaking. CON: It can take a long time to organise and collect primary data. If you are paying people to help you collect the data, it can also be costly.

Sources of Data 2 SECONDARY data is information you wish to use, that has been collected by someone else. PRO: It is very easy to get a lot of secondary data very quickly. CON: It may not be exactly what you need or in the format you need it. It may be old or outdated. It may be inaccurate or unreliable. Remember to check out the source of the data in order to judge its reliability and also to check when the data was originally collected. Lots of things change over time, so data collected 10 years ago may not be a true reflection of today.

Quick Check Let’s see how good you are at identifying what type of data (i.e. primary or secondary) these sources give. For each situation described, click on the button next to the type of data you think is being sourced. You will be told whether you are correct or not. You will then need to click on the continue button.

A) Car Colour Observation You sit at the school gates and make a note of the colour of cars driving passed. Primary Secondary

A) Car Colour Observation You sit at the school gates and make a note of the colour of cars driving passed. Primary Well done! Secondary Click here to continue 

A) Car Colour Observation You sit at the school gates and make a note of the colour of cars driving passed. Primary Secondary Click here to continue  You are collecting the data yourself = Primary data

B) Daily Temperature You wish to plot the daily temperature to see how it has changed over the last month. You visit the met office’s website to look up the data for your area. Primary Secondary

B) Daily Temperature You wish to plot the daily temperature to see how it has changed over the last month. You visit the met office’s website to look up the data for your area. Primary Well done! Secondary Click here to continue 

B) Daily Temperature You wish to plot the daily temperature to see how it has changed over the last month. You visit the met office’s website to look up the data for your area. Primary Secondary Click here to continue  You are using info collected by the met office (i.e. someone else) = Secondary data

C) Crimes Committed You find an article with details of statistics of the number of crimes committed each year, for the past 10 years. You decide to use this data in a History project. Primary Secondary

C) Crimes Committed You find an article with details of statistics of the number of crimes committed each year, for the past 10 years. You decide to use this data in a History project. Primary Well done! Secondary Click here to continue 

C) Crimes Committed You find an article with details of statistics of the number of crimes committed each year, for the past 10 years. You decide to use this data in a History project. Primary Secondary Click here to continue  Someone else collected the data = Secondary data

D) Year Group You decide to find out which year group uses the school dining hall the most. Every lunchtime for a week, you ask students entering the hall, which year group they are in. Primary Secondary

D) Year Group You decide to find out which year group uses the school dining hall the most. Every lunchtime for a week, you ask students entering the hall, which year group they are in. Primary Well done! Secondary Click here to continue 

D) Year Group You decide to find out which year group uses the school dining hall the most. Every lunchtime for a week, you ask students entering the hall, which year group they are in. Primary Secondary Click here to continue  You are collecting the data yourself = Primary data

E) Experiment Results Everyone in your science class undertakes a reaction test. The results are collected together and put in a table. Primary Secondary

E) Experiment Results Everyone in your science class undertakes a reaction test. The results are collected together and put in a table. Primary Well done! Secondary Click here to continue 

E) Experiment Results Everyone in your science class undertakes a reaction test. The results are collected together and put in a table. Primary Secondary Click here to continue  You, as a class, are collecting the data yourselves = Primary data

What next? Print out the notes called Data1a and Data1b. Read through them and make sure you answer any questions. Work through the MyMaths lesson called Types of Data which will give you further information on populations and samples etc. and can be found at: If you need more practice try the worksheet called DataType-S1.xlsx Now move on to the Data-2 powerpoint