What term describes a variable that cannot be directly measured but is assumed to be related to several variables that can be measured?

What term describes a variable that cannot be directly measured but is assumed to be related to several variables that can be measured?

• A. Latent variable
• B. Observed variable
• C. Hidden factor
• D. Construct

Answer: (A)

Unobserved constructs are represented as latent variables in measurement models. A latent variable is what you infer from several measured indicators because you can’t measure the underlying concept directly. It explains why multiple observed variables tend to vary together: they share influence from the same hidden factor. This term fits because the concept you’re describing—something you can’t measure directly but that is assumed to relate to several measured variables—matches the idea of an underlying latent factor that generates the observed correlations among indicators. For example, a latent variable might capture an abstract trait like motivation or intelligence, inferred from multiple test items or survey questions. By contrast, an observed variable is something you measure directly, which isn’t the hidden cause behind multiple measures. A hidden factor isn’t the standard terminology in this context, and a construct is a broader term for an abstract idea; the precise term for the unmeasured driver that explains multiple indicators is latent variable.

Unobserved constructs are represented as latent variables in measurement models. A latent variable is what you infer from several measured indicators because you can’t measure the underlying concept directly. It explains why multiple observed variables tend to vary together: they share influence from the same hidden factor.

This term fits because the concept you’re describing—something you can’t measure directly but that is assumed to relate to several measured variables—matches the idea of an underlying latent factor that generates the observed correlations among indicators. For example, a latent variable might capture an abstract trait like motivation or intelligence, inferred from multiple test items or survey questions.

By contrast, an observed variable is something you measure directly, which isn’t the hidden cause behind multiple measures. A hidden factor isn’t the standard terminology in this context, and a construct is a broader term for an abstract idea; the precise term for the unmeasured driver that explains multiple indicators is latent variable.