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    Statlab Workshop Series 2008 Introduction To Regression/Data Analysis

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    This document provides an introduction to different types of variables that may be encountered when doing regression and data analysis. It discusses categorical variables like dummy, nominal, and ordinal variables. It also discusses numerical variables like continuous and discrete variables. The document emphasizes exploring the data distribution through plots like histograms and scatter plots to better understand the variables and determine the appropriate analysis tools.

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    Statlab Workshop Series 2008 Introduction To Regression/Data Analysis

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    25 views1 page
    This document provides an introduction to different types of variables that may be encountered when doing regression and data analysis. It discusses categorical variables like dummy, nominal, and ordinal variables. It also discusses numerical variables like continuous and discrete variables. The document emphasizes exploring the data distribution through plots like histograms and scatter plots to better understand the variables and determine the appropriate analysis tools.

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    stats variables

    Original Title

    Types of Variables

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    This document provides an introduction to different types of variables that may be encountered when doing regression and data analysis. It discusses categorical variables like dummy, nominal, and ordinal variables. It also discusses numerical variables like continuous and discrete variables. The document emphasizes exploring the data distribution through plots like histograms and scatter plots to better understand the variables and determine the appropriate analysis tools.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    25 views1 page

    Statlab Workshop Series 2008 Introduction To Regression/Data Analysis

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    docbin
    This document provides an introduction to different types of variables that may be encountered when doing regression and data analysis. It discusses categorical variables like dummy, nominal, and ordinal variables. It also discusses numerical variables like continuous and discrete variables. The document emphasizes exploring the data distribution through plots like histograms and scatter plots to better understand the variables and determine the appropriate analysis tools.

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    StatLab Workshop Series 2008 Introduction to Regression/Data Analysis

    I. The basics

    A. Types of variables

    Your variables may take several forms, and it will be important later that you are aware
    of, and understand, the nature of your variables. The following variables are those which
    you are most likely to encounter in your research.

    • Categorical variables

    Such variables include anything that is “qualitative” or otherwise not amenable to


    actual quantification. There are a few subclasses of such variables.

    Dummy variables take only two possible values, 0 and 1. They signify
    conceptual opposites: war vs. peace, fixed exchange rate vs. floating
    exchange rate, etc.
    Nominal variables can range over any number of non-negative
    integers. They signify conceptual categories that have no inherent
    relationship to one another: red vs. green vs. black, Christian vs.
    Jewish vs. Muslim, etc.
    Ordinal variables are like nominal variables, only there is an ordered
    relationship among them: no vs. maybe vs. yes, etc.

    • Numerical variables

    Such variables describe data that can be readily quantified. Like categorical
    variables, there are a few relevant subclasses of numerical variables.

    Continuous variables can appear as fractions; in reality, they can have


    an infinite number of values. Examples include temperature, GDP,
    etc.
    Discrete variables can only take the form of whole numbers. Most
    often, these appear as count variables, signifying the number of times
    that something occurred: the number of firms invested in a country, the
    number of hate crimes committed in a county, etc.

    A useful starting point is to get a handle on your variables. How many are there? Are
    they qualitative or quantitative? If they are quantitative, are they discrete or continuous?

    Another useful practice is to explore how your data are distributed. Do your variables all
    cluster around the same value, or do you have a large amount of variation in your
    variables? Are they normally distributed? Plots are extremely useful at this introductory
    stage of data analysis – histograms for single variables, scatter plots for pairs of
    continuous variables, or box-and-whisker plots for a continuous variable vs. a categorical
    variable. This preliminary data analysis will help you decide upon the appropriate tool
    for your data.

    http://www.yale.edu/statlab 2

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