A company measures the amount of time customers wait in line before being served. This variable is best classified as:

A company measures the amount of time customers wait in line before being served. This variable is best classified as:

• A. discrete, because time is counted
• B. continuous, because time can take on any value in an interval
• C. discrete, because it cannot be negative
• D. continuous, because time must be normally distributed

Answer: (B)

Time can take on any value within a range, not just whole numbers. Waiting time is measured on a continuous scale, since you can have 2.37 minutes, 2.371 seconds, and so on. The fact that we often record time in minutes or seconds doesn’t change the underlying property; the variable is not limited to integers. The nonnegativity of time or the idea that a distribution is normal don’t define whether a variable is discrete or continuous. So the best classification is continuous because time can assume any value in an interval.

Time can take on any value within a range, not just whole numbers. Waiting time is measured on a continuous scale, since you can have 2.37 minutes, 2.371 seconds, and so on. The fact that we often record time in minutes or seconds doesn’t change the underlying property; the variable is not limited to integers. The nonnegativity of time or the idea that a distribution is normal don’t define whether a variable is discrete or continuous. So the best classification is continuous because time can assume any value in an interval.