What's a variable?

Let’s get to know some of the descriptive statistics. The first challenge is
determining what kind of data you are dealing with. There are generally
two main types of data, qualitative and quantitative.

Qualitative data is typically words, but could also be images or other

media, we will refer to this data in this course as categorical. Qualitative
data may be labeled with numbers allowing this type of data to be
analyzed using some of the techniques in the course. Maria might
encounter some qualitative data in her work by labeling some of the
mental health diagnoses (depression might be a “1”; anxiety a “2”). Note
how these numerical labels are arbitrary. On the other hand,
quantitative data is the focus of this course and is numerical. If Maria
counts the number of patients seen each day, this data is quantitative.

Quantitative variables may be discrete or continuous. Discrete

variables can only take on a limited number of values (e.g., only whole
numbers) while continuous variables can take on any value and any
value between two values (e.g., out to an infinite number of decimal
places).

Before we get too far along, let’s take a moment to think about what
the word “variable” means. A variable, notice this is a noun, not a verb,
is an element or a feature. In statistics, this is typically something that is
measured or recorded. In Maria’s case, the “number of patients” is a
variable, the mental health diagnosis is a variable.
Summarizing Types of Variables
To summarize:

Categorical variable
Names or labels (i.e., categories) with no logical order or with a
logical order but inconsistent differences between groups, also
known as qualitative.
 Example: Eye Color
Quantitative variable
Numerical values with magnitudes that can be placed in a
meaningful order with consistent intervals, also known as
numerical.
Continuous variable
Characteristic that varies and can take on any value and any value
between values

Example: Gas Prices

Discrete variable
Characteristic that varies and can only take on a set number of
values

Example: Number of Customers

If a child admitted to Maria’s program is weighed upon admission, this
weight is a quantitative variable because it takes on numerical values
with meaningful magnitudes. It is a continuous variable because,
theoretically, weight could take on any value. Any value between any
two values is a possibility.