Variable

In: The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research

Methods

Edited by: Michael S. Lewis-Beck, Alan Bryman & Tim Futing Liao
Book Title: The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods
Chapter Title: "Variable"
Pub. Date: 2011
Access Date: March 6, 2021
Publishing Company: Sage Publications, Inc.
City: Thousand Oaks
Print ISBN: 9780761923633
Online ISBN: 9781412950589
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412950589
Print page: 1173
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A variable is something that varies in value, as opposed to a constant (such as the number 2), which always
has the same value. These are observable features of something that can take on several different values or
can be put into several discrete categories. For example, students' scores on an exam are variables because
they have different values, and religion can be considered a variable because there are multiple categories.
Scientists are sometimes interested in determining the values of constants, such as π, the ratio of the area of
a circle to its squared radius. However, statistics involves the study of variables rather than constants.

A quantity X is a random variable if, for every number a, there is a probability p that X is less than or equal
to a. A discrete random variable is one that attains only certain values, such as the number of newly elected
senators in a given election. By contrast, a continuous random variable is one that can take on any value
within a range, such as a person's height (measured in the smallest possible fractions of an inch).

Data analysis often involves HYPOTHESES regarding the relationships between variables, such as “If X
increases in value, then Y tends to increase (or decrease) in value.” Such hypotheses involve relationships
between latent variables, which are abstract concepts. These concepts have to be operationalized into
manifest variables that can be measured in actual research.

A basic distinction in statistical analysis is between the DEPENDENT VARIABLE that the researcher is
trying to explain and the INDEPENDENT VARIABLES that serve as predictors of the dependent variable.
In REGRESSION, for example, the dependent variable is the Y VARIABLE on the left-hand side of the
regression equation Y = a + bX, whereas X is an independent variable on the right-hand side of the equation.

The starting point in statistical analysis is often looking at the distribution of the variables of interest, one at a
time, including calculating appropriate univariate statistics. The changes in that variable over time can then be
examined in TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS. Univariate analysis is usually just the jumping-off point for BIVARIATE
or MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS. For example, in ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE, the researcher examines the
extent to which experimental conditions affect the variance in the dependent variable.

Herbert F. Weisberg

http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412950589.n1063
10.4135/9781412950589.n1063

Reference

Lewis-Beck, M. S.(1995). Data analysis: An introduction.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Variable
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