Which of the following is a characteristic of discrete counts?

Discrete counts specifically refer to the tallying or counting of individual, distinct items or events, which can be whole numbers representing complete entities rather than parts of a whole. This is a key characteristic because discrete counts apply to scenarios where data arises from counting identifiable occurrences, whether it's the number of defects in a product, the number of customers served, or the number of transactions processed.

By focusing on the total number of distinct items or events, discrete counts serve as a foundational aspect of data analysis in various fields, including quality management and process analysis, allowing for straightforward interpretations and strategic decisions based on the counts collected. This characteristic distinguishes discrete data from continuous data, which pertains to measurements that can take on any value within a range, and from averages or statistical sampling, which are more abstract representations of data distributions rather than direct counts.