cardinal variable
noun1
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 uncertainty and information, page 14:
- 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:
1 more example
- Life Satisfaction was handled as a cardinal variable, with values between one and seven, where one was assigned to the lowest level of satisfaction2007, Ian Gough with J. Allister McGregor, Wellbeing in developing countries: from theory to research, page 266:
- Hyponyms
- interval variable, ratio variable
- Coordinate terms
- nominal variable, ordinal variable