VARIABLES y y The value of an item or individual is called variable.

Variables are of two types: o Quantitative: a variable with a numeric value. E.g. age, weight. o Qualitative: a variable with a category or group value. E.g. Gender (M/F), Religion (H/M/C), Qualification (degree/PG) Quantitative variable are two types: a. Continuous: All values possible ( in some range). Eg. Weight of an adult (70.12 kg, 70.121 kg, 70.122 kg all these weights have theoretical existence, but for convenience of measurement we consider larger units-70.0 kg, 70.5kgetc) b. Discrete: There are gaps between the possible values. Eg. We can have WBC count of 5000 or 5001 or 5002/mm3, but we cannot have the WBC count of 5000.5 or 5001.5/mm3 because we cannot count a half of a WBC Variables can be o Independent  Are not influenced by other variables.  Are not influenced by the event, but could influence the event. o Dependent  The variable which is influenced by the others is often referred as dependent variable.

Nominal Scale of measurement Nominal variables include categories of people, events, and other phenomena are named. y Example: gender, age-class, religion, type of disease, blood groups A, B, AB, and O. y They are exhaustive in nature, and are mutually exclusive. y These categories are discrete and noncontinuous. o Statistical operations permissible are: counting of frequency, Percentage, Proportion, mode, and coefficient of contingency. Ordinal Scale of measurement y It is second in terms of its refinement as a means of classifying information. y It incorporates the functions of nominal scale. y The ordinal scale is used to arrange (or rank) individuals into a sequence ranging from the highest to lowest. y Ordinal implies rank-ordered from highest to lowest.  Grade A+, A, B+, B, C+, C  1st , 2nd , 3rd etc y Interval scale of Measurement y Interval scale refers to the third level of measurement in relation to complexity of statistical techniques used to analyze data. y It is quantitative in nature y The individual units are equidistant from one point to the other. y The interval data does not have an absolute zero.  E.g. temperature is measured in Celsius or Fahrenheit. Ratio Scale of Measurement y Equal distances between the increments y This scale has an absolute zero. y Ratio variables exhibit the characteristics of ordinal and interval measurement  E.g. variable like time, length and weight are ratio scales and also be measured using nominal or ordinal scale.

y y

E.g. In an experimental study on relaxation intervention for reducing HTN, blood pressure is the dependent variable and relaxation training, age and gender are independent variable. SCALES OF MEASUREMENT o Four measurement scales are used: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. o Each level has its own rules and restrictions.