Discrete variable
Topic: Economic Data: Census, NSS, Surveys and Statistical Tools · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 3 "Organisation of Data"; Class 11, Ch 4 "Presentation of Data"; Class 11, Ch 8 "Use of Statistical Tools"
Meaning
A discrete variable is a quantitative variable that changes only in finite jumps. It takes certain values and nothing in between. Most discrete variables are whole-number counts. A discrete variable can still take fractions, such as 1/8 and 1/16, as long as it takes no value between them. Discrete data are often shown as a frequency array, which lists each value with its frequency, or as a bar diagram.
Example
The number of students in a class can be 40 or 41, but never 40.5. Household size (1, 2, 3 … members) is another discrete variable.
Don't confuse with
- Continuous variable: can take any value in a range, including every fraction, such as height, weight or time.
Related concepts
- Raw data
- Classification
- Chronological classification
- Spatial classification
- Qualitative classification
- Quantitative classification
- Attribute
- Continuous variable
- Frequency
- Frequency distribution