D1.2 Collect qualitative data and discrete and continuous quantitative data to answer questions of interest, and organize the sets of data as appropriate, including using percentages.

Activity 1: Data Types


Introduce students to the following questions of interest.

  • How many people attended the Music on the Run concert?
  • What is the average length of time it takes to run 5 km? 
  • Are children's movies longer than other types of movies? 
  • How much does a cantaloupe weigh?
  • What colour of sweater are most students wearing today?
  • How many siblings do the students at Charlemagne School have?
  • What is the favourite movie genre of teenagers?
  • What is the average speed of the racing cars?
  • How many different types of musical instruments are there in each school of the School Board?
  • What are the favourite ice cream flavours of the students at Les Épinettes School?

Ask students to choose a question of interest from those suggested above. Ask them questions such as the following:

  • What type of inquiry is most appropriate for your question of interest? Why?
  • What kind of data will you need to collect? How do you know?
  • Do you think the data should be collected from a primary or secondary source? Why? If you are going to use secondary data, where will it come from? Is this source reliable?
  • What is the target population and what will be your sample size? How did you determine this?
  • How will you go about getting the data you need?
  • How will you record the results of your inquiry?
  • What sampling technique will be most appropriate to answer your question of interest? How do you know?

Activity 2: Data Types and Relative Frequency Table


Present students with the following scenario:

An investor is looking to determine the approximate amount of money that the residents of Eat-All Village spend each week on groceries. The population currently has to shop in a nearby town. This data will help the investor make a more informed decision about whether or not it would be profitable to open a grocery store in this village.

Amount Spent Each Week on Groceries

Amount ($) Frequency
Less than $100 31
$100 to $200 228
$200 to $300 197
$300 or more 58
  • What kind of data did the investor collect? How might the investor have collected this data?
  • Organize the data into a relative frequency table.
  • Determine how you could use the relative frequencies expressed as percentages, to create the sections in a circle graph. Construct the graph.