Continuous variable

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Definition
Continuous variable
  • A variable that may take on any value in a certain range.
  • No measured variable is truly continuous; however, discrete variables measured with enough precision may be considered continuous for practical purposes.
  • A variable that is not continuous is known as discrete.



Examples

The following are examples of continuous variables:

  • Weight of a fire fighter
  • Length of a yawn in minutes
  • Distance a paper airplane flies
  • Average daily temperature

Note that a rounded measure of a continuous variable is technically no longer continuous, but may be treated as continuous for practical purposes.


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Web Resources

  • Statistics Online Computational Resource - Types of Data
  • Online Statistics: An Interactive Multimedia Course of Study, Chapter: 1. Introduction, Section: Variables



Acknowledgements

Portions of this entry were adapted from