What Is a Statistical Variable?
A statistical variable is each of the characteristics or qualities that the individuals in a population possess.
Types of Statistical Variables
Qualitative Variables
Qualitative variables refer to characteristics or qualities that cannot be measured with numbers. We can distinguish two types:
1. Nominal Qualitative Variable
A nominal qualitative variable presents non-numerical modalities that do not admit an ordering criterion.
Example: Marital status, with the following modalities: single, married, separated, divorced, and widowed.
2. Ordinal Qualitative Variable (or Quasi-Quantitative Variable)
An ordinal qualitative variable presents non-numerical modalities in which an order exists.
Examples:
- Exam grade: fail, pass, good, excellent
- Position achieved in a sporting event: first, second, third, ...
- Medals in a sporting event: gold, silver, bronze
Quantitative Variables
A quantitative variable is one that is expressed by a number, so arithmetic operations can be performed with it. We can distinguish two types:
1. Discrete Variable
A discrete variable is one that can only take a finite number of values between any two values of a characteristic.
Example: The number of siblings of 5 friends: 2, 1, 0, 1, 3.
2. Continuous Variable
A continuous variable is one that can take an infinite number of values between any two values of a characteristic.
Example: The height of the 5 friends: 5.2, 5.6, 5.9, 6.0, 6.1 (in ft).
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