What type of data can take any value, such as blood pressure or tumor size?

Continuous data is defined as numerical data that can take any value within a given range. This includes measurements such as blood pressure, which can vary widely among individuals and may include decimal points, and tumor size, which can also have a wide variety of possible values. Continuous data is particularly significant in fields like oncology, where precise measurements can influence patient treatment plans and clinical outcomes.

In contrast, categorical data refers to variables that can be divided into distinct categories without any numeric value. Qualitative data encompasses descriptive attributes that do not have a numerical basis, such as the presence or absence of certain symptoms. Ordinal data represents a type of categorical data with a specific order or ranking, such as stages of disease, but does not capture continuous values.

Given the need for measurements that can represent a full range of values, continuous data is the appropriate choice for describing entities like blood pressure and tumor size in clinical and research contexts.