Skip to main content
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Institute of Engineering
GIKI
Search in course Search
Search in course
Shopp
English
Menu pop-up Collapsed
A
PreviousNext
1.
2. Prepare Data for Exploration
3. Module 1
4. Data formats in practice Hi, ABDUL!
Menu
Data formats in practice How can I help?
When you think about the word "format," a lot of things Explain this topic in simple terms
might come to mind. Think of an advertisement for your Give me a summary
favorite store. You might find it in the form of a print ad, a Give me practice questions
billboard, or even a commercial. The information is presented Give me real-life examples
in the format that works best for you to take it in. The format Ask Coach *
of a dataset is a lot like that, and choosing the right format
will help you manage and use your data in the best way Ask me anything
possible.
Coach is powered by AI, so check for mistakes and don't
Data format examples share sensitive info. Your data will be used in accordance with
Coursera's Privacy Notice.
As with most things, it is easier for definitions to click when
you can pair them with examples you might encounter on a
daily basis. Review each data format’s definition first and
then use the examples to lock in your understanding.
Primary versus secondary data
The following table highlights the differences between
primary and secondary data and presents examples of each.
Data format
Definition Examples
classification
Data from an interview
you conducted - Data
from a survey returned
Collected by a
researcher from 20 participants
Primary data
from first-hand Data from
sources questionnaires you got
back from a group of
workers
Data you bought from
a local data analytics
firm’s customer
profiles
Gathered by
other people or Demographic data
Secondary data
from other collected by a
research university
Census data gathered
by the federal
government
Internal versus external data
The following table highlights the differences between
internal and external data and presents examples of each.
Data format
Definition Examples
classification
Internal data Data that is Wages of employees
stored inside a across different
company’s own business units
systems tracked by HR
Sales data by store
location
Product inventory
levels across
distribution centers
National average
wages for the
Data that is various positions
stored outside of throughout your
External data organization
a company or
organization Credit reports for
customers of an
auto dealership
Continuous versus discrete data
The following table highlights the differences between
continuous and discrete data and presents examples of each.
Data format
Definition Examples
classification
Height of kids in
third grade classes
Data that is (52.5 inches, 65.7
Continuous measured and can inches)
data have almost any
Runtime markers in
numeric value
a video
Temperature
Number of people
who visit a hospital
on a daily basis (10,
Data that is 20, 200)
counted and has a
Discrete data
limited number Maximum capacity
of values allowed in a room
Tickets sold in the
current month
Qualitative versus quantitative data
The following table highlights the differences between
qualitative and quantitative data and presents examples of
each.
Data format
Definition Examples
classification
Favorite exercise
activity
A subjective and
Brand with best
explanatory measure
Qualitative customer service
of a quality or
characteristic Fashion
preferences of
young adults
Percentage of
board certified
doctors who are
women
A specific and
objective measure, Population size
Quantitative
such as a number, of elephants in
quantity, or range Africa
Distance from
Earth to Mars at
a particular time
Nominal versus ordinal data
The following table highlights the differences between
nominal and ordinal data and presents examples of each.
Data format
Definition Examples
classification
First time
customer, returning
customer, regular
A type of customer
qualitative data
New job applicant,
Nominal that is categorized
existing applicant,
without a set
internal applicant
order
New listing,
reduced price
listing, foreclosure
Movie ratings
(number of stars: 1
star, 2 stars, 3
stars)
A type of Ranked-choice
qualitative data voting selections
Ordinal
with a set order or (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
scale
Satisfaction level
measured in a
survey (satisfied,
neutral,
dissatisfied)
Structured versus unstructured data
The following table highlights the differences between
structured and unstructured data and presents examples of
each.
Data format
Definition Examples
classification
Expense
reports
Data organized in a
Tax
Structured data certain format, like rows
returns
and columns
Store
inventory
Social
Data that cannot be media
Unstructured stored as columns and posts
data rows in a relational
Emails
database.
Videos
Mark as completedGo to next item
Like
Dislike
Report an issue
