what are the types of variables, amount, severity, age, private attorney, marital status, specialty

by Orville Zemlak PhD 10 min read

What are the two main types of variables?

Nov 21, 2019 · Discrete and continuous variables are two types of quantitative variables: Discrete variables represent counts (e.g. the number of objects in a collection). Continuous variables represent measurable amounts (e.g. water volume or weight).

What are the types of variables in medical records?

What are the types of variables: Amount, Severity, Age, Private attorney, Marital status, Specialty, Insurance, Insurance, and Gender. The amount (amount of the claim payment in dollars), the severity (the severity rating of damage to the patient, from 1 (emotional trauma) to 9 (death)) and age (are of the claimant in years) are all quantitative variables, meaning they can be assessed …

Which of the following is an example of a categorical variable?

Video: Types of Variables (3 Parts; 13:25 total time) Variables can be broadly classified into one of two types: Quantitative. Categorical. Below we define these two main types of variables and provide further sub-classifications for each type. Categorical variables take category or label values, and place an individual into one of several groups.

Which of the following is an example of a quantitative variable?

Ordinal variables or ranked variables are similar to categorical, but can be put into an order (e.g., a scale for severity of itching). Dependent and independent variables In the context of an experimental study, the dependent variable (also called outcome variable) is directly linked to the primary outcome of the study.

What are the two types of variables?

Variables can be broadly classified into one of two types: Quantitative. Categorical. Below we define these two main types of variables and provide further sub-classifications for each type. Categorical variables take category or label values, and place an individual into one of several groups. Categorical variables are often further classified as ...

What are the variables in medical records?

In our example of medical records, there are several variables of each type: Age, Weight, and Height are quantitative variables. Race, Gender, and Smoking are categorical variables.

What is ordinal in statistics?

Common examples would be gender, eye color, or ethnicity. Ordinal, when there is a natural order among the categories, such as , ranking scales or letter grades. However, ordinal variables are still categorical and do not provide precise measurements.

What is discrete variable?

Quantitative variables take numerical values, and represent some kind of measurement. Discrete, when the variable takes on a countable number of values. Most often these variables indeed represent some kind of count such as the number of prescriptions an individual takes daily.

Do categorical variables have to be coded?

Usually, if such a coding is used, all categorical variables will be coded and we will tend to do this type of coding for datasets in this course. Sometimes, quantitative variables are divided into groups for analysis, in such a situation, although the original variable was quantitative, the variable analyzed is categorical.

What are the properties of a variable?

For a variable to be “good,” it needs to have some properties such as good reliability and validity, low bias, feasibility/practicality, low cost, objectivity, clarity, and acceptance. Variables can be classified into various ways as discussed below. Quantitative vs qualitative .

What is variable in statistics?

A variable is an essential component of any statistical data. It is a feature of a member of a given sample or population, which is unique, and can differ in quantity or quantity from another member of the same sample or population. Variables either are the primary quantities of interest or act as practical substitutes for the same.

Why are variables important?

The importance of variables is that they help in operationalization of concepts for data collection. For example, if you want to do an experiment based on the severity of urticaria, one option would be to measure the severity using a scale to grade severity of itching. This becomes an operational variable.

What are nominal and categorical variables?

Nominal/categorical variables are, as the name suggests, variables which can be slotted into different categories (e.g., gender or type of psoriasis).

What is an independent variable?

The independent variable (sometime also called explanatory variable) is something which is not affected by the experiment itself but which can be manipulated to affect the dependent variable. Other terms sometimes used synonymously include blocking variable, covariate, or predictor variable.

What is a confounding variable?

Confounding variables are extra variables, which can have an effect on the experiment. They are linked with dependent and independent variables and can cause spurious association. For example, in a clinical trial for a topical treatment in psoriasis, the concomitant use of moisturizers might be a confounding variable.

What is the best measure of central tendency?

The median is the best measure of central tendency from among the mean, median, and mode. In a “symmetric” distribution, all three are the same, whereas in skewed data the median and mean are not the same; lie more toward the skew, with the mean lying further to the skew compared with the median.

What is a variable in science?

In scientific research, a variable is anything that can take on different values across your data set (e.g., height or test scores). There are 4 levels of measurement: Nominal: the data can only be categorized. Ordinal: the data can be categorized and ranked.

How many levels of measurement are there?

There are 4 levels of measurement, which can be ranked from low to high: Nominal: the data can only be categorized. Ordinal: the data can be categorized and ranked. Interval: the data can be categorized and ranked, and evenly spaced. Ratio: the data can be categorized, ranked, evenly spaced and has a natural zero.

What is ordinal data?

Ordinal: the data can be categorized and ranked. Interval: the data can be categorized, ranked, and evenly spaced. Ratio: the data can be categorized, ranked, evenly spaced , and has a natural zero. Depending on the level of measurement of the variable, what you can do to analyze your data may be limited. There is a hierarchy in the complexity and ...

What is a true zero point?

You can categorize, rank, and infer equal intervals between neighboring data points, and there is a true zero point. A true zero means there is an absence of the variable of interest. In ratio scales, zero does mean an absolute lack of the variable.

Section 2: Types of Variables

Look again at the variables (columns) and values (individual entries in each column) in Table 2.1. If you were asked to summarize these data, how would you do it?

Exercise 2.1

For each of the variables listed below from the line listing in Table 2.1, identify what type of variable it is.