iGCSE Data Types

Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
Identify different data types
Select appropriate data types for a given set of data

1. Which of the following can be stored as LOGICAL/BOOLEAN

data and WHY?
Field Name

Example
Data
19/07/196
5

Boolean
or not?

Date of birth

No

Door status

Open

Boolean

Number of
staples

34

No

Has 4 legs

Yes

Boolean

Reason
Because it can be multiple
answers.
It can only be open or
closed.
You could have any
number of staples.
Because it is a yes or no
question

2. Select a data type and explain why youve chosen it for each
field in the table below.
Field Name

Example
Data

Data Type

Title

Mr/Mrs

Boolean

Phone Number

0121 222
9999

Alphanume
ric

Gender

Boolean

Date of Birth

01/01/190
0

Date

Dates can be stored in

many different forms.

Country

Germany

Logical

There is more than one

country in the world.

Reason
Once you are married
there are two titles.
Alphanumeric or
text/string is used to hold
telephone numbers.
Youre either male or
female.

3. Explain the advantages of storing a yes/no question as

BOOLEAN instead of ALPHANUMERIC.
_It is easier as there are only two possible outcomes.
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4. Explain why there is a need to have more than one format

available for storing the date.
So that you can store numbers and letters.
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iGCSE Data Types

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