cardinal variable

A variable whose values are ordered, that can be multiplied by a scalar, and for which the magnitude of differences in values is meaningful.

Noun

  1. A variable whose values are ordered, that can be multiplied by a scalar, and for which the magnitude of differences in values is meaningful.
    • In dealing with certainty choices, standard economic theory treats utility (intensity of preference) as an ordinal rather than a cardinal variable. - 1992, Jack Hirshleifer with John G. Riley, The analytics of...
    • The least squares estimation treats happiness as a cardinal variable. - 2001, Bruno S. Frey with Alois Stutzer, Happiness and economics: how the economy and institutions affect well-being, page 185:
    • Life Satisfaction was handled as a cardinal variable, with values between one and seven, where one was assigned to the lowest level of satisfaction - 2007, Ian Gough with J. Allister McGregor, Wellbeing in developing...

Forms

cardinal variables

Hyponyms

interval variable ratio variable