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School

Arizona State University *

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Course

390

Subject

Statistics

Date

May 28, 2024

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Uploaded by AdmiralMorning7927

2. Describing and Presenting Variables What is a variable? Throughout this course, you are going to hear the term “variable" used on a regular basis. But what IS a variable? N Simply put, a variable is anything that has the potential to vary among a group of people. Variables are the constructs (or ideas) that we are measuring when we collect data and what we are exploring when we conduct statistical analyses. . J A variable can be measured by a single question on a survey, a composite of multiple questions or constructs, observed behaviors, written responses that are coded for meaning, and many other ways! If you are interested in where the data comes from, be sure to take a course on research methods here at ASU! (Might | recommend SOC391/FAS361: Research Methods?) But no matter how the data are collected, the variables themselves possess unique characteristics that are important to understand because they influence the way that we can use statistics to understand them! Levels of Measurement One important characteristic of a variable that we need to understand is the level (or “scale” or “rule") of measurement that is used to define the possible values of the variable and what they mean. Let's start with an example. Imagine that you are collecting data on political affiliation. Your participants answer a survey question and circle whether they identify as a democrat, republican, independent, or other. After you have collected the data, you want to put it in numerical format so that you can enter it in a spreadsheet. You decide to assign a *1" to everyone who selected democrat, a “2" to everyone who selected republican, a “3" to everyone who selected independent, and a "“4" to everyone who selected other. Now consider a different circumstance in which you are collecting data on how many children are in a family. Your participants answer a survey question and write in the number of children in their family. You enter the numerical values into a spreadsheet such that 0 = no children in the family, 1 = 1 child in the family, 2 = 2 children in the family, and so on. Now consider what a value of 1 means in both of these circumstances. Besides measuring a different variable, 1

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