What is meant by absolute data versus percentage data?

• A. Absolute data are raw numbers.
• B. Absolute data are raw numbers; percentage data express parts of a whole and allow fair comparisons.
• C. Absolute data are calculated from percentages.
• D. Absolute data are scaled to a common base.

Answer: (B)

The main idea is that absolute data are the actual counts or measured values, while percentage data show a part of a whole as a share of 100. Absolute data tell you the true size (for example, 1200 people or 75 kg), but percentages put those numbers into a common scale so you can compare groups of different sizes fairly.

Using a percentage lets you compare proportions rather than raw totals. For example, if Class A has 20 passes out of 50 students and Class B has 40 passes out of 100 students, the raw counts differ, but both classes have the same passage rate of 40%. Percentages reveal that equal performance, which raw counts alone might obscure.

That’s why this option is the best: it describes absolute data as raw numbers and highlights that percentage data express parts of a whole and enable fair comparisons across different-sized groups. The other statements aren’t accurate descriptions of absolute data: absolute data aren’t calculated from percentages, nor are they simply scaled to a common base in the sense the option implies.