Which type of variable is characterized by having countable, limited values and finite gaps between them?

The correct answer is identified as discrete variables, which are defined by their characteristics of being countable, limited in values, and having finite gaps between the possible values. Discrete variables typically represent data that can be counted in whole numbers, such as the number of students in a classroom, the number of cars in a parking lot, or the number of votes in an election. Each of these examples has distinct, separate values with no possibility of intermediary values falling between them. For instance, you cannot have 2.5 students; you can only have a whole number of students.

In contrast, continuous variables would be characterized by being able to take on any value within a given range and having infinite possible values, thereby not exhibiting the finite gaps present in discrete variables. Nominal variables are categorical and used to label or classify data without a specific numerical value or order. Ordinal variables involve a sense of order among categories but do not have meaningful gaps or consistent intervals between the categories, which further differentiates them from discrete variables.