Difference between revisions of "Variable (definition)"

Revision as of 21:15, 30 January 2008

Variable

A description of a particular piece of reality. It is the basic building block of a risk assessment. It can be a description of physical phenomena, e.g. yearly average of PM2.5 concentration in Kuopio in 2006, or a description of a value judgement, e.g. willingness to pay to avoid lung cancer. Variables (the scopes of variables) can be more general or more specific and hierarchically related, e.g. yearly average of PM2.5 concentration in Finland in 2006 (general variable) and daily average of PM2.5 concentration in Kuopio on January 1st, 2006.