Variables, Values, and Observations
Variables
When discussing data, social scientists often speak in terms of variables, values, and observations. For the type of research discussed here, a variable refers to some specific participant characteristic that can assume different values (i.e., the values vary). For the participants in the study just described, Amount of Insurance Sold is an example of a variable: some participants had sold a lot of insurance whereas others had sold less. A second variable was Goal Difficulty: some participants set more difficult goals while others set less difficult goals. Participant Age and Sex (male or female) were other variables, though not considered in our initial hypothesis.
Values
A value is a specific ...
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