Discrete and Continuous Data

How to Subscribe
MLS & MLT Comprehensive CE Package
Includes 176 CE courses, most popular
$109Add to cart
Pick Your Courses
Up to 8 CE hours
$55Add to cart
Individual course$25Add to cart
Need multiple seats for your university or lab? Get a quote
The page below is a sample from the LabCE course Descriptive Statistics. Access the complete course and earn ASCLS P.A.C.E.-approved continuing education credits by subscribing online.

Learn more about Descriptive Statistics (online CE course)
Discrete and Continuous Data

There are two main types of data that you might encounter.  The first is discrete data, which is a count of whole events, objects or persons.  For example, the number of people with a certain illness is a discrete quantity.

The other type of data is continuous data, which is the measure of a quantity such as length, volume, or time, which can occur at any value.  For example, the concentration of glucose in the blood is a continuous quantity.  Even if the instrument you are using rounds off values to whole numbers, these quantities are still continuous.