Which term describes the data set that includes every observation's value for the variable?

• A. Data set
• B. Observations
• C. Descriptive statistics
• D. Outlier

Answer: (A)

The main idea is distinguishing between the full collection of values for a variable and the individual data points themselves, as well as terms for summaries and anomalies. The term that describes the data set containing every observation’s value is the data set itself. Think of it as the complete list of measurements you’ve collected for that variable across all units. Each individual value you recorded is an observation, which is one data point within that whole collection. Descriptive statistics are the summarized numbers you compute from the entire collection, like the average or spread. An outlier is a value that sits far from the rest. So, the complete collection containing every observation’s value is the data set. For example, if you record the heights of all students in a class, the list of those heights is the data set. The mean and range you compute come from that data set, and a single unusually tall or short height would be an outlier.