Types of Data

Types of Data in NSW Year 8 maths (NESA outcome MA4‑DAT‑C‑01) sorts data into two kinds. Categorical data is labels, either nominal (no order) or ordinal (in order); numerical data is amounts, either discrete (counted) or continuous (measured).

You will classify data such as song genres, T-shirt sizes, patients’ temperatures, phone call lengths and family sizes, testing each one by asking whether it is counted or measured. You will also see why postcodes and jumper numbers are labels rather than amounts, why shoe sizes that go up in halves are still discrete, and which graph suits each type of data. It is part of Year 8 Investigating Data.