Types of Numeric Data
 

Discrete Data This is data with 'discrete' or 'separate' gaps and is usually in the form of whole numbers. e.g. numbers of people in a household could be 1,2,3,4,... but couldn't be 1.3, 2.4 etc... Important It is the nature of the data itself which decides if it is discrete or continuous, not how we record it.

Continuous Data This is data which is 'continuous' i.e. has no gaps. The numbers could take any value. It usually concerns measuring. e.g. distance travelled could take any value e.g. 3.4325466 km We usually have to round off continuous data in order to work with it.