Question

The height of animals in parks is not a ________ variable.
A.discrete
B.dependent
C.nominal
D.continuous

Answer 1

Hint: The height of all animals will not be the same and will vary from animal to animal. A discrete variable is a variable whose value is obtained by counting. Discrete variables can take only a finite number of values. Continuous variables are the ones which take literally forever to count. A dependent variable is the one which can change due to other factors. Nominal variables are those variables which don’t have a numerical value.

Complete step-by-step answer:
The height of animals cannot be a discrete variable because we cannot count the height of something, we cannot measure it as it is not a discrete unit. The height of an animal will be for example 8 meters, 45 centimeters, 6 millimeter, etc. It is not something we can count as one single value.
Thus, the heights of animals in a park will be continuous, dependent and nominal, but not discrete variables.
Hence, option (A) is the correct option.

Note: When such a question is asked where we have to tell whether a property matches the data, then it is important to analyze every data and options, so that we don’t miss out on any of the options. Here, it may be possible that some students may think nominal as the answer because height does have a numerical value, however discrete variable is a more defining property which is not the case here. Thus, a discrete variable will be a better answer.