To monitor campus security, the campus police office is taking a survey of the number of students in a parking lot each 30 minutes of a 24-hour period with the goal of determining when patrols of the lot would serve the most students. If X is the number of students in the lot each period of time, then X is an example of
A) a categorical random variable.
B) a discrete random variable.
C) a continuous random variable.
D) a statistic.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

X represents the number of students which is a countable value, making it a discrete random variable. A categorical variable represents a fixed set of categories, which is not applicable here. Continuous variables can take any values within a range, but the number of students is a fixed and countable value. X is not a statistic but a random variable.

To Monitor Campus Security, the Campus Police Office Is Taking