This will explain most simple and easy concepts about Discrete and Continuous Data to help you further in statistics.

Discrete and Continuous Data

Data can be Descriptive (like "high" or "fast") or Numerical (numbers).

And Numerical Data can be Discrete or Continuous:

Discrete data is counted,
Continuous data is measured

Discrete Data

Discrete Data can only take certain values.

Example: the number of students in a class (you can't have half a student).

Example: the results of rolling 2 dice:

can only have the values 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

Continuous Data

Continuous Data can take any value (within a range)

Examples:

• A person's height: could be any value (within the range of human heights), not just certain fixed heights,
• Time in a race: you could even measure it to fractions of a second,
• A dog's weight,
• The length of a leaf,
• Lots more!