A colleague and I had a discussion today around Data Point and how it relates to Instance Variable.

Let me exemplify our discussion…

..Assume we have a Data structure defined as follows:

Identifier: Gender = {M, F}

Identifier: Age = { -20, 20+}

Measure: Amount of individuals = Positive number

Measure: Grade = Number between 1 to 5

This could give us a Dataset that might look like this in a spreadsheet

Would then the blue cells be considered as Data Points? That is all combinations of Identifier components and Measure components. (Or are both the blue and the white cells Data Point?)

If so then de definition av the Data Point is a bit confusing for me. It is: “A placeholder (or cell) for the value of an Instance Variable.” The confusing part is that interpret it to be the cell for Gender and Age since they are the placeholders for the value of the Instance Variable.

But what me and my colleague actually where discussing was the carnality between the Data Point and the Measure components that states it could be one or many (1..*). But should it be just one (1..1 )? The reason for this is that the Measure components also defines the “point in space” for the Data Point. If it does not then would there be a Datum for each Measure component associated to the Data Point

I would appreciate if someone could help me with my questions

Kind regards

Petros