Variables

When modeling data in pandas, we will be modeling one or more variables and looking to find statistical meaning amongst the values or across multiple variables. This definition of a variable is not in the sense of a variable in a programming language but one of statistical variables.

A variable is any characteristic, number, or quantity that can be measured or counted. A variable is so named because the value may vary between data units in a population and may change in value over time. Stock value, age, sex, business income and expenses, country of birth, capital expenditure, class grades, eye color, and vehicle type are examples of variables.

There are several broad types of statistical variables that we will come across when using pandas:

• Categorical
• Continuous
• Discrete