Binary variable
What is a binary variable?
A variable with exactly two possible values.
A binary variable is the simplest kind of categorical variable: every observation falls into one of just two groups, such as yes or no.
Binary variables can also be stored as 1 and 0, and sometimes it is meaningful to treat them like numerical variables. For example, if "Has a pet" is stored as 1 and 0, its average is the share of respondents who own a pet: an average of 0.4 means 40% are pet owners.
From our own dataset
"Has a pet": yes or no.
Where we teach it
Lesson 1.2 of Project 1: Sibling Interviews. Watch lesson 1.2 and read the notes, free with a free account.
Related terms
- Categorical variable: A variable whose values are text.
- Numerical variable: A variable whose values are numbers.
- Variable: A characteristic or question we record for each observation.