What term describes the condition where the variance of one variable varies across levels of another variable?

What term describes the condition where the variance of one variable varies across levels of another variable?

• A. Heterogeneity of variance
• B. Heteroscedasticity
• C. Homogeneity of variance
• D. Homoscedasticity

Answer: (A)

Variance that changes in size across different levels of another variable is described as heterogeneity of variance. This phrase directly captures the idea that the spread of scores is not the same everywhere; the variability depends on where you are on the other variable. In practice, this means the data don’t meet the assumption of equal variances across groups, which is a key consideration in analyses like ANOVA. The other terms describe the opposite pattern or a slightly different context. Homogeneity of variance and its synonym, homoscedasticity, mean the variances are equal across levels. Heteroscedasticity is the common term used in regression to talk about non-constant variance of the residuals as the predictor changes, which is related but focused on errors in a regression model rather than the variance of the variable itself across levels.

Variance that changes in size across different levels of another variable is described as heterogeneity of variance. This phrase directly captures the idea that the spread of scores is not the same everywhere; the variability depends on where you are on the other variable. In practice, this means the data don’t meet the assumption of equal variances across groups, which is a key consideration in analyses like ANOVA.

The other terms describe the opposite pattern or a slightly different context. Homogeneity of variance and its synonym, homoscedasticity, mean the variances are equal across levels. Heteroscedasticity is the common term used in regression to talk about non-constant variance of the residuals as the predictor changes, which is related but focused on errors in a regression model rather than the variance of the variable itself across levels.