Variable: Likely to change or vary. Having no fixed number value.
What are variables? They are things that we measure, control, or manipulate.
Dependent Variables: Is what changes when the independent variable changes. The dependant variable depends on the outcome of the independant variable, that is why it is called the dependant variable.
Independent Variable: are changes that occur in an experiment that are directly caused by the experimenter.
The dependant variable is (y) and the independ variables are (x) in comparison to math equations. y = mx + b
Quantitative Data: varibles that differ in the amounts or scale and can be ordered. Quantitative variables are numerical. They repersent a measure of quantity.
example: weight, temperature, time
Discrete: numerical data that comes from a count of something. Discrete variable is one that cannot take on all values within the limits of the variable.
Continuous: numerical data that come from a measurement. Vaiables that can take on any value are called continuous.
Qualitative Data: Variables which differ in types and can not be ordered. They are categorical variables.
example: gender, subjects, colors
Experiment: A planned activity from which we gather data that we then use to draw a conclusion about some variable of interest.
Parameter: Is the whole population. A numerical measure.
Example: average height of all college women.
Example: The ACT score of all incoming freshman at big state university is 28.2
Statistic: Is a sample poplution. A numerical measure of a sample which is used to estimate a parameter.
Example: A random sample of 25 freshman had an average ACT score of 29.6
Examples of Independent Variables vs Dependent Variables:
Examples of Qualitative Data and Quantitative Data: