GUIDED PRACTICE 1.6 An experiment is evaluating the effectiveness of a new drug in treating migraines. A group variable is used to indicate the experiment group for each patient: treatment or control. The num-migraines variable represents the number of migraines the patient experienced during a 3-month period. Classify each variable as either numerical or categorical??

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1.2.2 Types of variables
Examine the unemp_rate, pop, state, and median_edu variables in the county data set. Each
of these variables is inherently different from the other three, yet some share certain characteristics.
First consider unemp_rate, which is said to be a numerical variable since it can take a wide
range of numerical values, and it is sensible to add, subtract, or take averages with those values. On
the other hand, we would not classify a variable reporting telephone area codes as numerical since
the average, sum, and difference of area codes doesn't have any clear meaning.
The pop variable is also numerical, although it seems to be a little different than unemp-rate.
This variable of the population count can only take whole non-negative numbers (0, 1, 2, ...). For this
reason, the population variable is said to be discrete since it can only take numerical values with
jumps. On the other hand, the unemployment rate variable is said to be continuous.
The variable state can take up to 51 values after accounting for Washington, DC: AL, AK, .....
and WY. Because the responses themselves are categories, state is called a categorical variable, and
the possible values are called the variable's levels.
Finally, consider the median_edu variable, which describes the median education level of county
residents and takes values below_hs, hs_diploma, some_college, or bachelors in each county. This
variable seems to be a hybrid: it is a categorical variable but the levels have a natural ordering.
A variable with these properties is called an ordinal variable, while a regular categorical variable
without this type of special ordering is called a nominal variable. To simplify analyses, any ordinal
variable in this book will be treated as a nominal (unordered) categorical variable.
numerical
all variables
categorical
nominal
(unordered categorical)
ordinal
(ordered categorical)
Figure 1.7: Breakdown of variables into their respective types.
continuous discrete
EXAMPLE 1.5
Data were collected about students in a statistics course. Three variables were recorded for each
student: number of siblings, student height, and whether the student had previously taken a statistics
course. Classify each of the variables as continuous numerical, discrete numerical, or categorical.
The number of siblings and student height represent numerical variables. Because the number of
siblings is a count, it is discrete. Height varies continuously, so it is a continuous numerical variable.
The last variable classifies students into two categories - those who have and those who have not
taken a statistics course which makes this variable categorical.
GUIDED PRACTICE 1.6
An experiment is evaluating the effectiveness of a new drug in treating migraines. A group variable
is used to indicate the experiment group for each patient: treatment or control. The num_migraines
variable represents the number of migraines the patient experienced during a 3-month period.
Classify each variable as either numerical or categorical?7
Transcribed Image Text:1.2.2 Types of variables Examine the unemp_rate, pop, state, and median_edu variables in the county data set. Each of these variables is inherently different from the other three, yet some share certain characteristics. First consider unemp_rate, which is said to be a numerical variable since it can take a wide range of numerical values, and it is sensible to add, subtract, or take averages with those values. On the other hand, we would not classify a variable reporting telephone area codes as numerical since the average, sum, and difference of area codes doesn't have any clear meaning. The pop variable is also numerical, although it seems to be a little different than unemp-rate. This variable of the population count can only take whole non-negative numbers (0, 1, 2, ...). For this reason, the population variable is said to be discrete since it can only take numerical values with jumps. On the other hand, the unemployment rate variable is said to be continuous. The variable state can take up to 51 values after accounting for Washington, DC: AL, AK, ..... and WY. Because the responses themselves are categories, state is called a categorical variable, and the possible values are called the variable's levels. Finally, consider the median_edu variable, which describes the median education level of county residents and takes values below_hs, hs_diploma, some_college, or bachelors in each county. This variable seems to be a hybrid: it is a categorical variable but the levels have a natural ordering. A variable with these properties is called an ordinal variable, while a regular categorical variable without this type of special ordering is called a nominal variable. To simplify analyses, any ordinal variable in this book will be treated as a nominal (unordered) categorical variable. numerical all variables categorical nominal (unordered categorical) ordinal (ordered categorical) Figure 1.7: Breakdown of variables into their respective types. continuous discrete EXAMPLE 1.5 Data were collected about students in a statistics course. Three variables were recorded for each student: number of siblings, student height, and whether the student had previously taken a statistics course. Classify each of the variables as continuous numerical, discrete numerical, or categorical. The number of siblings and student height represent numerical variables. Because the number of siblings is a count, it is discrete. Height varies continuously, so it is a continuous numerical variable. The last variable classifies students into two categories - those who have and those who have not taken a statistics course which makes this variable categorical. GUIDED PRACTICE 1.6 An experiment is evaluating the effectiveness of a new drug in treating migraines. A group variable is used to indicate the experiment group for each patient: treatment or control. The num_migraines variable represents the number of migraines the patient experienced during a 3-month period. Classify each variable as either numerical or categorical?7
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