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Types of Data

 

When you collect data for any study, it is important to that how you organize the data, or display the data, or complete statistical tests based upon the data is dependent upon the type of data you have.

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For example, you wouldn’t make a histogram based upon categorical data. Nor would you complete a Chi-square test for independence using continuous quantitative data. 

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The two main types of data are:

(1) Categorical Data, or qualitative data

(2) Numerical Data, or quantitative data

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Most graduate students must complete separate courses to learn how to collect and design

qualitative research or quantitative research. More recently, better design proposals are referred to as mixed-method designs, because they incorporate both qualitative and quantitative methods.

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Furthermore, these two main categories of data can be divided into more specific subsets, such as discrete versus continuous data for numerical data. The graphic below helps to visualize how we categorize different types of data.
 

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