Statistics Tutorial Assignmet

Running head : Statistics Tutorial Assignment

Random Variables

Student 's Name

Course Name and Number

Instructor 's Name

July 5 , 2009

Classification of Variables and Levels of Measurement

Overview

is reviewed and described specifically , what are the classification of variables and the levels of measurement concerning random variables

Definitions Classification of Variables

Continuous and Discrete Variables

Scientists classify variables into two types - continuous or discrete - based upon the kinds of values the variables can , in principle , assume Suppose we were interested in the variable length

' of a piece of lumber . A particular piece of wood can have infinitely many measurements of length because we can always , at least theoretically , make the spaces between measurement units smaller (3 .2 inches , 3 .217 inches , 3 .21795 inches , and so on . Continuous variables such as length , age , and time can in principle assume infinitely many values measurement of continuous variables are always approximations . In contrast , discrete variables such as sex (with values of male and female , political party affiliation (values of Democrat , Republican , Independent , and soon number of children in a family (values of 0 , 1 , 2 . but not of 1 .2 2 .36 , number of crimes committed by a person (values of 0 , 1 , 2 but not 1 .6 , and type of crime (the concepts misdemeanor ' and felony ) can assume only a finite number of values measurements of discrete variables can be exact . Understanding whether the variables under investigation are continuous or discrete is important because the variable type is related to both...