ECON 0150 | Economic Data Analysis

The economist’s data analysis pipeline.

Part 1.0 | Variable Types

Part 1.0 | Variable Types

We cannot typically understand our data without summarizing it.

The main differentiators between a good and bad summarization tools is the dimension of the data and what you’re trying to understand about the data.

Dimensions of Data

Data comes in all shapes, sizes, and types.

Variable Type

• Categorical data
• Numerical data

Data Structure

• Cross-sectional data
• Time series data
• Panel data

Number of Variables

• Univariate (n=1)
• Bivariate (n=2)
• Multivariate (n>2)

Variable Types: Categorical

… data that’s best recorded in categories

Binary: only two categories

• Economics major (YES/NO)
• Human (YES/NO)

Nominal: categories cannot be ordered / ranked

• Blood types (A, B, AB, 0)
• Colors (Red, Blue, Green)

Ordinal: categories have order / rank but not a meaningful scale

• Education levels (High School, Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD)
• Survey responses (Strongly Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree)
• Size categories (Small, Medium, Large)

Variable Types: Numerical

… data that’s best recorded in numerical form

Discrete: countable numbers with meaningful intervals

• Number of children in a household (1, 2, … )
• Number of siblings (1, 2, … )

Continuous: quantities measurable on the reals

• Household income
• US GDP

Exercise 1.0 | Variable Types

Lets identify the variable type for each dataset.

• Dataset 1: employment_status.csv
• Dataset 2: employment_sector.csv
• Dataset 3: economic_optimism.csv
• Dataset 4: household_size.csv
• Dataset 5: household_income.csv

Exercise: Employment Status

What type of variables are contained in employment_status.csv?

Binary Categorical: two categories (Employed, Unemployed)

Exercise: Employment Sector

What type of variables are contained in employment_sector.csv?

Nominal: no inherent order (Agriculture, Services, Unemployed)

Exercise: Economic Optimism

What type of variables are contained in economic_optimism.csv?

Ordinal: meaningful order without meaningful intervals (Very Pessimistic to Very Optimistic)

Exercise: Household Size

What type of variables are contained in household_size.csv?

Discrete Numerical: countable numbers with meaningful intervals (Number of Children in a Household)

Exercise: Household Income

What type of variables are contained in household_income.csv?

Continuous Numerical: quantities measurable on the reals (Income in USD)