GGR270H1 Lecture : variables and data, scales of measurement
Document Summary
Variables and data: a variable is a characteristic of a population that changes or varies over time; its something that can be measured over time, ex. Male or female, plant species, etc: data: results from measuring variables [use data as the plural, multivariate, bivariate and univariate. Classifies observations into mutually exclusive [an element can only go into one box or another; only one category] and collectively exhaustive groups. A nominal variable is simply the name or category of the variable [ex. Its either male or female: ordinal: allows data to be ordered and ranked. People living in large towns, medium towns or small towns and could then group them by the top 12 cities for example: interval: unit distance separating numbers is important. Temperature [f or c] or taxable income [$] in this case, negative numbers can mean something: ratio: ratios of distance on a number scale.