Quantitative versus qualitative data

To accomplish our diagnoses of the various types of data, we will begin with the highest order of separation. When dealing with structured, tabular data (which we usually will be doing), the first question we generally ask ourselves is whether the values are of a numeric or categorical nature.

Quantitative data are data that are numerical in nature. They should be measuring the quantity of something.

Qualitative data are data that are categorical in nature. They should be describing the quality of something.

Basic examples:

• Weather measured as temperature in Fahrenheit or Celsius would be quantitative
• Weather measured as cloudy or sunny would be qualitative
• The name of a person visiting the White House would be qualitative
• The amount of blood you donate at a blood drive is quantitative

The first two examples show that we can describe...