Lesson 3: Creating Categories

About 30 minutes — Discussion-based lesson

What You Will Learn

This lesson covers:

What categories are: groups that organize similar things together
When you need categories (open-ended responses, measurements)
Making categories that do not overlap
Categories should cover everything (no data left out)

What categories are: groups that organize similar things together

This section covers the key ideas about what categories are: groups that organize similar things together. Discuss with your group or family and explore the concepts together.

When you need categories (open-ended responses, measurements)

This section covers the key ideas about when you need categories (open-ended responses, measurements). Discuss with your group or family and explore the concepts together.

Making categories that do not overlap

This section covers the key ideas about making categories that do not overlap. Discuss with your group or family and explore the concepts together.

Categories should cover everything (no data left out)

This section covers the key ideas about categories should cover everything (no data left out). Discuss with your group or family and explore the concepts together.

Check Your Understanding

1. What is a category?

Answer: A category is a group that organizes similar things together. If survey answers include 'apples, bananas, grapes, oranges,' you might create a category called 'fruit.'

2. Why do categories need to not overlap?

Answer: If categories overlap, the same data point could go in two groups. 'Small (1-5)' and 'Medium (5-10)' overlap at 5. Better: 'Small (1-4)' and 'Medium (5-9).'

3. What if some data does not fit any category?

Answer: Then your categories are not complete. Every piece of data must fit somewhere. You may need an 'Other' category or need to adjust your groups.

4. When do you need to create categories?

Answer: When your data has too many unique answers to list individually. If 30 people gave 25 different answers, you need to group similar ones into categories.

Key Takeaways

What categories are: groups that organize similar things together
When you need categories (open-ended responses, measurements)
Making categories that do not overlap
Categories should cover everything (no data left out)

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Continue to Lesson 4: Checking Your Organized Data

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