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In mathematics, a function is a rule for taking an input (in the simplest case, a number or set of numbers) [5] and providing an output (which may also be a number). [5] A symbol that stands for an arbitrary input is called an independent variable, while a symbol that stands for an arbitrary output is called a dependent variable. [6]
In mathematics and statistics, a quantitative variable may be continuous or discrete if it is typically obtained by measuring or counting, respectively. [1] If it can take on two particular real values such that it can also take on all real values between them (including values that are arbitrarily or infinitesimally close together), the variable is continuous in that interval. [2]
For example, in the notation f(x, y, z), the three variables may be all independent and the notation represents a function of three variables. On the other hand, if y and z depend on x (are dependent variables ) then the notation represents a function of the single independent variable x .
Attributes are closely related to variables. A variable is a logical set of attributes. [1] Variables can "vary" – for example, be high or low. [1] How high, or how low, is determined by the value of the attribute (and in fact, an attribute could be just the word "low" or "high"). [1] (For example see: Binary option)
Random variables are usually written in upper case Roman letters, such as or and so on. Random variables, in this context, usually refer to something in words, such as "the height of a subject" for a continuous variable, or "the number of cars in the school car park" for a discrete variable, or "the colour of the next bicycle" for a categorical variable.
Other latent variables correspond to abstract concepts, like categories, behavioral or mental states, or data structures. The terms hypothetical variables or hypothetical constructs may be used in these situations. The use of latent variables can serve to reduce the dimensionality of data. Many observable variables can be aggregated in a model ...
The same is true for intervening variables (a variable in between the supposed cause (X) and the effect (Y)), and anteceding variables (a variable prior to the supposed cause (X) that is the true cause). When a third variable is involved and has not been controlled for, the relation is said to be a zero order relationship. In most practical ...
One method conjectured by Good and Hardin is =, where is the sample size, is the number of independent variables and is the number of observations needed to reach the desired precision if the model had only one independent variable. [24] For example, a researcher is building a linear regression model using a dataset that contains 1000 patients ().