Which statement correctly distinguishes qualitative and quantitative geographic data with an example?

• A. Quantitative data are numeric measurements (such as population counts); qualitative data are non-numeric descriptions (such as landscape character or place names).
• B. Qualitative data are numeric measurements; quantitative data are descriptive labels like place names.
• C. Quantitative data are text records; qualitative data are satellite images.
• D. Qualitative data are coordinates, while quantitative data are color names.

Answer: (A)

In geography, the difference hinges on whether the information is numeric or descriptive. Quantitative geographic data are numeric measurements you can count or measure, such as population counts, rainfall totals, or road lengths. Qualitative geographic data are non-numeric attributes that describe quality or category, like landscape character, place names, or land-use categories. For example, counting how many people live in a city is quantitative, while describing whether the landscape is mountainous or flat is qualitative. This distinction matters because quantitative data lend themselves to mathematical analysis and comparisons, whereas qualitative data are used for categorization and thematic understanding.