Data Types | What Works (2024)

DATA TYPES AND SOURCES

Decide on the data you need

Data types and sources

Collecting good data is the foundation on which you gather evidence and make sense of it. Decide what data you need when you design your project, then you can gather the right information from the start, and throughout the project.

There are two general types of data – quantitative and qualitative and both are equally important. You use both types to demonstrate effectiveness, importance or value.

QUANTITATIVE DATA

Quantitative data is information that you can measure. It’s numbers –something you can count. Because it’s countable it can be reliable evidence. Examples include:

  • How many people took part?
  • How much did it cost?
  • How long did it run for?
  • Average attendance at each programme session?

QUALITATIVEDATA

Qualitative data is information about qualities, you can’t count it. That is, it’s information about how people feel about something. Examples include:

  • Sharing what people like about a programme.
  • How they think it could be improved.
  • What difference it has made to their lives.
  • Whether they would recommend the programme to others.

Quantitative Data vs Quantitative Data

Here are examples of sources of quantitative and qualitative data:

QUANTITATIVE DATA SOURCESQUALITATIVE DATA SOURCES
Programme information – numbers involved, what happens when, who it is for, cost, participation levels.Getting feedback on a programme – weekly check-ins, surveys, groups discussions, before-and-after programme questions.
Statistics and statutory data.Stories of participants’ experience and impact.
Environmental monitoring such as bird counts, seeds planted and fish stocks.Observation of a programme.
Structured surveys involving multiple-choice, rating scales or other closed questions.Document review such as literature reviews.
Control groups – comparing one group that experienced a programme with another similar group that did not.Interviews involving open-ended questions with backers, service providers and participants.
Recording transactions, such as website hits.Visual methods such as photos, DVDs and art or participants’ creative works.

USEFUL LINKS

Data Types | What Works (2024)

FAQs

How data types work? ›

A data type is an attribute associated with a piece of data that tells a computer system how to interpret its value. Understanding data types ensures that data is collected in the preferred format and the value of each property is as expected.

What are the four 4 data types? ›

What are Types of Data in Statistics?
  • Nominal data.
  • Ordinal data.
  • Discrete data.
  • Continuous data.

What are the five data types? ›

Data types
  • String (or str or text). Used for a combination of any characters that appear on a keyboard, such as letters, numbers and symbols.
  • Character (or char). Used for single letters.
  • Integer (or int). Used for whole numbers.
  • Float (or Real). ...
  • Boolean (or bool).

What are the 3 main types of data? ›

There are Three Types of Data
  • Short-term data. This is typically transactional data. ...
  • Long-term data. One of the best examples of this type of data is certification or accreditation data. ...
  • Useless data. Alas, too much of our databases are filled with truly useless data.

What is data and how does it work? ›

Data can be seen as the smallest units of factual information that can be used as a basis for calculation, reasoning, or discussion. Data can range from abstract ideas to concrete measurements, including, but not limited to, statistics.

How do you identify data types? ›

What are the possible data types?
  1. integers: for numbers without fractions. Can be signed (allow positive and negative values) or unsigned (only allow positive numbers). ...
  2. decimal(x,y): for numbers with fractions requiring exact precision. ...
  3. float / doubles: for numbers with fractions not requiring exact precision.

What are the 3 most common data types? ›

Most programming languages support basic data types of integer numbers (of varying sizes), floating-point numbers (which approximate real numbers), characters and Booleans.

What are the four common types of data? ›

4 Types Of Data- Nominal, Ordinal, Discrete And Continuous.

What are the categories of data? ›

4 Types of Data: Nominal, Ordinal, Discrete, Continuous | upGrad blog.

What is the basic data type? ›

The basic data types are also known as fundamental or primary data types. Basic data types are used in the C language for storing the available values in decimal as well as integer forms, and these provide support for both – unsigned and signed literals.

What are the 5 main data types in databases? ›

Database data types refer to the format of data storage that can hold a distinct type or range of values. When computer programs store data in variables, each variable must be designated a distinct data type. Some common data types are as follows: integers, characters, strings, floating-point numbers and arrays.

What are the 5 different categorization of data types? ›

The following are five common categories used for data classification:
  • Public data.
  • Private data.
  • Internal data.
  • Confidential data.
  • Restricted data.
Nov 23, 2022

What are 3 main types of data classification? ›

Data classification generally includes three categories: Confidential, Internal, and Public data. Limiting your policy to a few simple types will make it easier to classify all of the information your organization holds so you can focus resources on protecting your most critical information.

What are the three 3 kinds of data analysis? ›

There are three types of analytics that businesses use to drive their decision making; descriptive analytics, which tell us what has already happened; predictive analytics, which show us what could happen, and finally, prescriptive analytics, which inform us what should happen in the future.

What are the two general types of data? ›

There are only 2 classes of data in statistics: quantitative data and qualitative data. This highest level of classification comes from the fact that data can either be measured or can be an observed feature of interest. Qualitative data are also referred to as categorical data.

How does a different kind of data structure work? ›

The data elements are linked to several items. A linear data structure can be an array, a stack, a linked list, or a queue. Non-linear data structures include trees and graphs. The linear data structure consists of a single level.

How do data types work in Python? ›

Python has several built-in data types, including numeric types (int, float, complex), string (str), boolean (bool), and collection types (list, tuple, dict, set). Each data type has its own set of properties, methods, and behaviors that allow programmers to manipulate and process data effectively in their programs.

How do you set data types? ›

Change data types in Datasheet view

Select the field (the column) that you want to change. On the Table Fields tab, in the Properties group, click the arrow in the drop-down list next to Data Type, and then select a data type.

Why are data types different? ›

Different data types have different processing requirements. Using the smallest data type that can accurately represent the needed values can improve the performance of your code. This is because smaller data types require fewer processor cycles to manipulate, resulting in faster execution.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Kelle Weber

Last Updated:

Views: 6108

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (73 voted)

Reviews: 80% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Kelle Weber

Birthday: 2000-08-05

Address: 6796 Juan Square, Markfort, MN 58988

Phone: +8215934114615

Job: Hospitality Director

Hobby: tabletop games, Foreign language learning, Leather crafting, Horseback riding, Swimming, Knapping, Handball

Introduction: My name is Kelle Weber, I am a magnificent, enchanting, fair, joyous, light, determined, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.