VARIABLE

It is the Characteristic or trait which is going to be measured. These characteristics take different
values in different persons, places or things, so we label a characteristic as variable.
E.g.: blood pressure, weight, height, hemoglobin

TYPES OF VARIABLES
1. Quantitative variable
- Outcomes of a variable obtained through measurement or counting
- A variable that can be measured in the usual sense
E.g.: Weight of pre-school children, age of patients

2. Qualitative variable
- A variable which cannot be directly measured rather classified into different categories based on mere
possession of the characteristics.
E.g.: ethnic group, possessing a characteristic or not, such as smokers and non-smokers. Here we use
frequencies falling in each category of the variable.

3. Random variable
Results only by chance factors i.e. cannot be predicted

4. Continuous random variable

- It has values along the continuum /has infinite number of values between two points.
- Does not possess gaps
E.g. height and weight

5. Discrete random variable

It has a finite number of values between two points. It is characterized by gaps or interruptions in the values that
it can assume.
E.g. No. of admissions per day, No. of missing teeth, No. of children in family
• Categorical: Variables that take a handful of discrete non-quantitative values e.g. sex and blood groups.
When categorical variables take on only two values they may be called as Dichotomous variable. E.g.
yes or no, dead or alive etc.
• Numerical discrete
E.g. No. of episodes of angina, No. of missing teeth, No. of children in family
Note: To summarize discrete variables we measure the proportion of individuals falling within each category.
For continuous variables we need measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion.

6. Independent variable
- is a factor that we are interested to study
E.g. meat intake in grams per day

7. Dependent variable (outcome variable)

- is the factor observed or measured for different categories of the independent variable
E.g. hypercholesterolemia