Chapter 2, Problem 1P

A Wall Street Journal subscriber survey asked 46 questions about subscriber characteristics and interests. State whether each of the following questions provides categorical or quantitative data.

1. a. What is your age?
2. b. Are you male or female?
3. c. When did you first start reading the WSJ? High school, college, early career, midcareer, late career, or retirement?
4. d. How long have you been in your present job or position?
5. e. What type of vehicle are you considering for your next purchase? Nine response categories include sedan, sports car, SUV, minivan, and so on.

To determine

Identify whether the subscriber’s age provides a categorical or quantitative data.

Answer to Problem 1P

Age is a quantitative data.

Explanation of Solution

Categorical data:

The data in which categories of items are based only on labels or names. For categorical data, arithmetic operations cannot be performed.

Quantitative data:

The numerical data that is used to indicate magnitude is called quantitative data. Arithmetic operations can be performed for such data.

Here, the question describing the characteristic of age. Age is a numerical data. Hence, it is a quantitative data.

To determine

Identify whether the subscriber is a male or female is a categorical or quantitative data.

Answer to Problem 1P

Male or female is a categorical data.

Explanation of Solution

Here, the question describing whether the subscriber is a male or a female. Male or female is not a numerical data. Hence, it is a categorical data.

To determine

Identify whether the subscriber’s first start of reading WSJ is a categorical or quantitative data.

Answer to Problem 1P

This question provides a categorical data.

Explanation of Solution

Here, the question describing when the subscriber start reading WSJ. The categories of items for this question are high school, college, early career, midcareer, late career, or retirement. These categories are not numerical. Hence, this question provides categorical data.

To determine

Identify whether the subscriber’s duration of current position is a categorical or quantitative data.

Answer to Problem 1P

This question provides a quantitative data.

Explanation of Solution

Here, the question describing how long the subscriber is working in current job position. This leads to the output of number of days/month/year. These categories are numerical. Hence, this question provides quantitative data.

To determine

Identify whether the type of vehicle that the subscriber consider for next purchase is a categorical or quantitative data.

Answer to Problem 1P

The type of vehicle that the subscriber consider for next purchase is a categorical data.

Explanation of Solution

The nine response categories are not numerical data. It describes the types of vehicle that the subscriber considers for next purchase.

Hence, this question provides categorical data.