Scribd
Upload
10 views

02 +Types+of+Variables

1) There are two main types of variables: categorical (qualitative) and numerical (quantitative). 2) Categorical variables take on values that are names or labels, like hair color or dog breed. Numerical variables are observations or measurements that take on numerical values, like height. 3) Numerical variables can be further classified as discrete or continuous. Discrete variables take on countable values, like number of coins flipped. Continuous variables can take any value in a range, like weights on a football team.

Uploaded by

Sanjith Katakam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
10 views

02 +Types+of+Variables

1) There are two main types of variables: categorical (qualitative) and numerical (quantitative). 2) Categorical variables take on values that are names or labels, like hair color or dog breed. Numerical variables are observations or measurements that take on numerical values, like height. 3) Numerical variables can be further classified as discrete or continuous. Discrete variables take on countable values, like number of coins flipped. Continuous variables can take any value in a range, like weights on a football team.

Uploaded by

Sanjith Katakam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 12

AP

Statistics

Types of Variables
Types of Variables
Variable

Variable
For example, a
person's hair color is
In statistics, a A variable is an The value of the a potential variable,
variable has two attribute that variable can "vary" which could have
defining describes a person, from one entity to the value of "blond"
characteristics: place, thing, or idea. another. for one person and
"brunette" for
another.
Types of Variables
Definition of Data

Data:
observations on a single variable or
simultaneously on two or more
variables
Types of Variables
Categorical Variables

Categorical
Sometimes called Qualitative The color of candy (red, green, blue)
or the breed of a dog (greyhound,
Variables. Categorical variables
poodle, dachshund) would be
take on values that are names or examples of qualitative or categorical
labels. variables.
Types of Variables
Numerical Variables

Numerical
Sometimes called Quantitative For example, when we speak of the
height of an individual, we are talking
Variables. Numerical variables are
about a measurable attribute of the
observations or measurements that person. Therefore, height would be a
take on numerical values. numerical (quantitative) variable.
Types of Variables
Two Types of Numerical Variables

Quantitative variables can be further classified


as discrete or continuous.

• If a variable takes on • If a variable can take on


only a countable set of any value or range of
values between its values between its
minimum and minimum value and its
maximum value, it is maximum value, it is
called a discrete called a continuous
variable. variable.

Discrete Continuous
Types of Variables
Examples of Discrete Data
Suppose we flip a coin and observe the number of tails that occur
in 10 tosses. The possible outcomes of our discrete random
variable X = # of tails that are tossed would be {0, 1, 2, … , 9, 10}.
Since this is a countable set of values (notice we cannot toss, for
example, 4.168 tails, the variable here would be discrete.
The number of people served by a drive through bank teller over
a one hour time period is observed for a sample of five different
one hour time periods:
{18 , 22 , 14 , 31 , 28}
The number free throws made by a professional basketball player
in a sample of 12 games:
{3 , 11 , 5 , 5 , 4 , 0 , 10 , 2 , 8 , 7 , 4 , 13}
Types of Variables
Examples of Continuous Data
The weights of individuals on the varsity football team:
{225, 180, 157, 288, 216, 200, 198, 253, 144, … , 303}
(Notice even though the weights are measured accurately to the nearest
pound, the actual weight could be any value in some reasonable interval.)

The number of gallons required to fill the gas tanks of 10


randomly selected mid-sized rental cars.
{16.1, 17.7, 15.3, 18.0, 18.8, 15.5, 17.9, 19.1, 18.1, 16.6}

Notice the continuous variables above can take on any value


in the domain of possible values and typically continuous
variables are measurements of some type.
Types of Variables
Classification by Number of Variables

We further classify variables based on the


number of variables we are studying in the
population.
• data that describes • data that describes • data that describes
a single two characteristics more than two
characteristic of the of the population characteristics
population (beyond the scope
of this course)

Univariate Bivariate Multivariate


Types of Variables
Examples
Classify the following variables as categorical
(qualitative) or numerical (quantitative):
Categorical Dominant Categorical
Gender
(Qualitative) Hand (Qualitative)

Numerical Numerical
Age Pulse Rate
(Quantitative) (Quantitative)

Number of Numerical Categorical


Eye Color
girls in class (Quantitative) (Qualitative)
Types of Variables
Examples

Further Classify the Numerical Variables as


Continuous or Discrete
Number of
Age Pulse Rate
girls in class

Continuous Discrete Continuous


Types of Variables
Unusual Categorical Variables

Consider the
Unusual variables:
Social Security
Categorical Number and Zip
Variables Code
Although both are
expressed as
numbers, they are
categorical variables.

You might also like