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A. Definition of Variable
There are different ways variables can be described according to the ways they can be
studied, measure, and presented. However, in general, variable refers to a characteristic that
varies from one person or thing to another. Examples of variables for humans are height, weight,
number of siblings, sex, marital status, and eye color.

B. Types of Variables

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Figure 1. The basic types of variables

1. Numeric variables
It have values that describe a measurable quantity as a number, like how many or how
much. Therefore, numeric variables are quantitative variables. Quantitative variables can be
classified as either discrete or continuous.
a. Continuous variable
A variable whose possible values form some interval of numbers. Typically, a
continuous variable involves a measurement of something, such as the height of a person,
the weight of a newborn baby, the length of time a car battery lasts, blood pressure
readings, indoor and outdoor temperature, concentrations of pollutants in the air or water,
and other measurements.

There two types of continuous variables. The first type of continuous variable that you
might encounter is:

An interval variable. Interval data are considerably more useful than ordinal data
and most of the statistical tests in this book rely on having data measured at this
level. To say that data are interval, we must be certain that equal intervals on the
scale represent equal differences in the property being measured. For example, on
www.ratemyprofessors.com students are encouraged to rate their lecturers on
several dimensions (some of the lecturers rebuttals of their negative evaluations are
worth a look). Each dimension (i.e. helpfulness, clarity, etc.) is evaluated using a 5point scale. For this scale to be interval it must be the case that the difference
between helpfulness ratings of 1 and 2 is the same as the difference between say 3
and 4, or 4 and 5. Similarly, the difference in helpfulness between ratings of 1 and 3
should be identical to the difference between ratings of 3 and 5. Variables like this

that look interval (and are treated as interval) are often ordinal..
Ratio variables go a step further than interval data by requiring that in addition to
the measurement scale meeting the requirements of an interval variable, the ratios
of values along the scale should be meaningful. For this to be true, the scale must
have a true and meaningful zero point. In our lecturer ratings this would mean that a
lecturer rated as 4 would be twice as helpful as a lecturer rated with a 2 (who would
also be twice as helpful as a lecturer rated as 1!). The time to respond to something
is a good example of a ratio variable. When we measure a reaction time, not only is
it true that, say, the difference between 300 and 350 ms (a difference of 50 ms) is
the same as the difference between 210 and 260 ms or 422 and 472 ms, but also it is
true that distances along the scale are divisible: a reaction time of 200ms is twice as
long as a reaction time of 100 ms and twice as short as a reaction time of 400 ms.

b. Discrete variable
It usually involves a count of something, such as the number of siblings a person has,
the number of cars owned by a family, or the number of students in an introductory
statistics class.

Discrete vs. Continuous Variables

Some examples will clarify the difference between discrete and continuous variables.

Suppose the fire department mandates that all fire fighters must weigh between 150 and
250 pounds. The weight of a fire fighter would be an example of a continuous variable;
since a fire fighter's weight could take on any value between 150 and 250 pounds.

Suppose we flip a coin and count the number of heads. The number of heads could be any
integer value between 0 and plus infinity. However, it could not be any number between 0
and plus infinity. We could not, for example, get 2.3 heads. Therefore, the number of
heads must be a discrete variable.

2. Categorial variables
It have values that describe a quality or characteristic of a data unit, like what type
or which category. Categorical variables falls into mutually exclusive (in one category or in
another) and exhaustive (include all possible options) categories. Therefore, categorical
variables are qualitative variables and tend to be represented by a non-numeric value. For
instance, sex/gender, marital status, and eye color. Qualitative variables can be classified as
either ordinal or nominal.
a. An ordinal variable is any categorical variable with some intrinsic order or numeric
value. For example, we might categorize information on the educational status of a
group of people into a variable called EDUCATION. One person may not have
graduated from high school, another might have graduated from high school but
received no further education, a third could have some college education or have
received some other postsecondary training, and another might have graduated from
college. The education levels of all members of the group will fit neatly into these
categories, and the categories have an intrinsic order. A college graduate has more
education than a high school graduate, and a high school graduate has more education
than someone who did not graduate from high school. Thus as the categories go from 1
to 5, the level of education increases. Other examples of ordinal variables are:
agreement (for example, strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly
agree)
rating (for example, excellent, good, fair, poor)

frequency (for example, always, often, sometimes, never)

or any other scale (for example, On a scale of 1 to 5, how much do you like
peanuts?)
b. A nominal variable is a categorical variable without any intrinsic order. For example,
say we have a variable called RESIDE that characterizes the part of the United States in
which a person livesthe Northeast, the South, the Midwest, the Southwest, or the
Northwest. The categories of this variable have no numeric value or order. Residence in
the Northwest has no quantitative value compared to the Northeast.

When doing research there are some important generic terms for variables that you will
encounter:
1. Independent variables are those that (probably) cause, influence, or affect outcomes. They are
also called treatment, manipulated, antecedent, or predictor variables.
2. Dependent variables are those that depend on the independent variables; they are the
outcomes or results of the influence of the independent variables. Other names for dependent
variables are criterion, outcome, effect, and response variables.
3. Intervening or mediating variables stand between the independent and dependent variables,
and they mediate the effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable. For
example, if students do well on a research methods test (dependent variable), results may be
due to (a) their study preparation (independent variable) and/or (b) their organization of study
ideas into a framework (intervening variable) that influenced their performance on the test.
The mediating variable, the organization of study, stands between the independent and
dependent variables in the probable causal link.
4. Moderating variables are independent variables that affect the direction and/or the strength of
the relationship between independent and dependent variables (Thompson, 2006). These
moderating variables are new variables constructed by a researcher by taking one variable
and multiplying it by another to determine the joint impact of both on the dependent variable
(e.g., age X attitudes toward quality of life impacting self-esteem). These variables are
typically found in experiments.

Two other types of variables are control variables and confounding variables. Control
variables play an active role in quantitative studies. These are a special type of independent
variable that researchers measure because they potentially influence the dependent variable.
Researchers use statistical procedures (e.g., analysis of covariance [ANCOVA]) to control for
these variables. They may be demographic or personal variables (e.g., age or gender) that
need to be controlled so that the true influence of the independent variable on the
dependent can be determined.
Another type of variable, a confounding (or spurious) variable, is not actually measured
or observed in a study. It exists, but its influence cannot be directly detected. Researchers
comment on the influence of confounding variables after the study has been completed,
because these variables may have operated to explain the relationship between the
independent variable and dependent variable, but they were not or could not be easily
assessed (e.g., a confounding variable such as discriminatory attitudes).

Conclusion
In this paper, the meaning of a variable is a characteristic that varies from one person or
thing to another. Examples of variables for humans are height, weight, number of siblings,
sex, marital status, and eye color. The first three of these variables yield numerical
information and are examples of quantitative variables; the last three yield nonnumerical
information and are examples of qualitative variables, also called categorical variables.
Quantitative variables can be classified as either discrete or continuous. A discrete variable is
a variable whose possible values can be listed, even though the list may continue indefinitely.
This property holds, for instance, if either the variable has only a finite number of possible
values or its possible values are some collection of whole numbers. A discrete variable usually
involves a count of something, such as the number of siblings a person has, the number of
cars owned by a family, or the number of students in an introductory statistics class. A
continuous variable is a variable whose possible values form some interval of numbers.
Typically, a continuous variable involves a measurement of something, such as the height of a
person, the weight of a newborn baby, or the length of time a car battery lasts.
Others types of variables are:
1. Independent variable
2. Dependent variable
3. Intervening or mediating variable
4. Moderating variable
5. Control variable, and
6. Confounding variable