Facilitator: Netra Kumar Manandhar

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EDMT 512: Statistics (Math Education)

Name of Variable Description

Binary variable Observations (i.e., dependent variables)

that occur in one of two possible states,
often labeled zero and one. E.g.,
“improved/not improved” and “completed
task/failed to complete task.”

Categorical Variable This variable is usually an independent or

predictor variable that contains values
indicating membership in one of several
possible categories. E.g., gender (male or
female), marital status (married, single,
divorced, widowed). The categories are
often assigned numerical values used as
labels, e.g., 0 = male; 1 = female. It is
synonym for nominal variable.

Confounding variable A variable that obscures the effects of

another variable. If one elementary read-
ing teacher used a phonics textbook in her
class and another instructor used a whole
language textbook in his class, and students
in the two classes were given achievement
tests to see how well they read, the
independent variables (teacher
effectiveness and textbooks) would be
confounded. There is no way to determine
if differences in reading between the two
classes were caused by either or both of the
independent variables.

Continuous variable A variable that is not restricted to particular

values (other than limited by the accuracy
of the measuring instrument). E.g., reaction
time, neuroticism, IQ. Equal size intervals
on different parts of the scale are assumed,
if not demonstrated. Synonym for interval
variable.

Control variable An extraneous variable that an investigator

does not wish to examine in a study. Thus,
the investigator controls this variable. Also
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called a covariate.

Criterion variable: The presumed effect in

a nonexperimental study.

Dependent variable The presumed effect in an experimental

study. The values of the dependent variable
depend upon another variable, the
independent variable. Strictly speaking,
“dependent variable” should not be used
when writing about non-experimental
designs.

Dichotomous variable Synonym for binary variable.

Discrete variable Variable having only integer values. For

example, number of trials need by a student
to learn a memorization task.

Dummy Variables Created by recoding categorical variables

that have more than two categories into a
series of binary variables. E.g., Marital
status, if originally labeled 1=married,
2=single, and 3=divorced, widowed, or
separated, could be redefined in terms of
two variables as follows: var_1: 1=single,
0=otherwise. Var_2: 1=divorced, widowed,
or separated, 0=otherwise.

For a married person, both var_1 and var_2

would be zero. In general, a cate- gorical
variable with k categories would be
recoded in terms of k - 1 dummy variables.
Dummy variables are used in regression
analysis to avoid the unrea- sonable
assumption that the original numerical
codes for the categories, i.e., the values 1,
2, ..., k, correspond to an interval scale.
Use: to place cases in specific groups.

Endogenous variable A variable that is an inherent part of the

system being studied and that is deter-
mined from within the system. A variable
that is caused by other variables in a causal
system.

Exogenous variable A variable entering from and determined

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from outside of the system being studied. A
causal system says nothing about its
exogenous variables.

Independent variable The presumed causes in an experimental

study, all other variables that may impact
the dependent variable are controlled. The
values of the independent variable are
under experimenter control. Strictly
speaking, “independent variable” should
not be used when writing about non-
experimental designs.

Interval variable Synonym for continuous variable.

Intervening variable A variable that explains a relation or

provides a causal link between other
variables, also called by some authors
“mediating variable” or “intermediary
variable.” Example: The statistical
association between income and longevity
needs to be explained because just having
money does not make one live longer.
Other variables intervene between money
and long life. People with high incomes
tend to have better medical care than those
with low incomes. Medical care is an
intervening variable. It mediates the
relation between income and longevity.

Latent variable An underlying variable that cannot be

observed. It is hypothesized to exist in
order to explain other variables, such as
specific behaviors, that can be observed.
Example: if we observe the voting records
of members of the House of
Representatives on spending bills for the
military, food stamps, law enforcement,
and promoting business investment, we
might find underlying patterns that could
be explained by postulating latent variables
such as conservatism and liberalism.

Mediating variable Synonym for intervening variable.

Example: Parents transmit their social
status to their children directly, but they
also do so indirectly, through education:
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viz. Parent’s status → child’s education ➛
child’s status

Manifest variable An observed variable assumed to indicate

the presence of a latent variable. Also
known as an indicator variable. We cannot
observe intelligence directly, for it is a
latent variable. We can look at indicators
such as vocabulary size, success in one’s
occupation, IQ test score, ability to play
complicated games (e.g., bridge) well,
writing ability, and so on.

Manipulated variable Synonymous with independent variable.

Moderating variable A variable that influences, or moderates,

the relation between two other variables
and thus produces an interaction effect.

Nominal variable Synonymous with categorical variable.

Ordinal variable A variable used to rank a sample of

individuals with respect to some
characteristics, but differences (i.e.,
intervals) and different points of the scale
are not necessarily equivalent. Examples:
anxiety might be rated on a scale “none,”
“mild,” “moderate,” and “severe,” with
numerical values of 0, 1, 2, 3. A patient
with an anxiety score of 1 is ranked as less
anxious than a patient with a score of 3, but
patients with scores 0 and 2 do not
necessarily have the same differences in
anxiety as patients with scores of 1 and 3.

Outcome variable The presumed effect in a non-experimental

study. Synonymous with criterion variable.

Polychotomous variables Variables that can have more than two

possible values. Strictly speaking, this
includes all but binary variables. The usual
reference is to categorical variables with
more than two categories.

Predictor variable The presumed “cause” on a non-

experimental study. Often used in
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correlational studies. For example, SAT
scores predict first semester GPA. The
SAT score is the predictor variable.

Treatment variable Synonymous with independent variable