Final answer:
An 'attribute' defines a piece of information about a particular object, used to describe characteristics in data collection. Attributes can be qualitative or quantitative and are essential in scientific investigations to test hypotheses.
Step-by-step explanation:
A piece of information about a particular object is referred to as an attribute. When we collect data in a scientific investigation, we gather observations in order to test a hypothesis. These data points can provide details about the characteristics of an object or event, and they come in various forms. They may be qualitative (categorical) or quantitative, which can further be divided into continuous or discrete data. An attribute is used to describe one of these characteristics or qualities of a data subject. For example, if we're collecting data on students, an attribute could be their height, which is a quantitative continuous attribute, or their favorite subject, which is a qualitative attribute.