AQA GCSE · Question 05.3 · Data Collection and Sampling Methods
Is your quantitative variable discrete or continuous? Tick a box.
Answer options:
A.
Discrete
B.
Continuous
How to approach this question
Consider the quantitative variable you chose in the previous part. Can it be counted in whole numbers (discrete), or can it take any value within a range (continuous)? For example, you count flowers, but you measure height.
Full Answer
A.Discrete✓ Correct
Discrete data can only take certain values (like whole numbers). For example, the "Number of flowers used" must be an integer (e.g., 8, 9, 10); you cannot use 9.25 flowers. This is countable.
Continuous data can take any value within a range. For example, height, weight, or time.
The "Cost to make" and "Selling price" are technically continuous variables because they can be measured, but in practice, they are recorded to two decimal places. However, "Number of flowers used" is unambiguously discrete.
Common mistakes
✗ Incorrectly classifying a countable variable (like number of flowers) as continuous.
✗ Incorrectly classifying a measurable variable (like cost) as discrete, although this is a common point of confusion.
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