2.6.2.3: Quantitative or Qualitative
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One of the most obvious ways to categorize information is by whether it is quantitative or qualitative. Some sources contain either quantitative information or qualitative information, but sources often contain both.
Many people first think of information as something like what’s in a table or spreadsheet of numbers and words. But information can be conveyed in more ways than textually or numerically.
Quantitative Information – Involves a measurable quantity—numbers are used. Some examples are length, mass, temperature, and time. Quantitative information is often called data, but can also be things other than numbers.
Qualitative Information – Involves a descriptive judgment using concept words instead of numbers. Gender, country name, animal species, and emotional state are examples of qualitative information.
Take a quick look at the Example table below. Another way we could display the table’s numerical information is in a graphic format —listing the students’ ages or GPAs on a bar chart, for example, rather than in a list of numbers. Or, all the information in the table could be displayed instead as a video of each student giving those details about themselves.
Increasingly, other formats (such as images, sound, and video) may be is used as information or used to convey information. Some examples:
What quantitative and qualitative data components might you use to describe yourself? See the bottom of the page for some possible answers.
Take a look at the Wikipedia article about UN Secretaries-General . Scroll down and view the table of people who served as Secretary-General. In what ways is information conveyed in ways other than text or numbers? See the bottom of the page for answers.
The answer to the “Quantitative vs. Qualitative” Activity above is:
Quantitative: age, weight, GPA, income
Qualitative: race, gender, class (freshman, sophomore, etc.), major
Are there others?
The answer to the “Multiple Data Displays” Activity above is:
Are there others?