Which term describes a variable with exactly two categories, such as male and female?

Which term describes a variable with exactly two categories, such as male and female?

• A. Dichotomous
• B. Discrete variable
• C. DFFit
• D. Direct effect

Answer: (A)

A variable that has exactly two categories is described as dichotomous. This term specifically captures the idea of two mutually exclusive categories, like male and female, or yes and no. In practice, such variables are often coded as 0 and 1 to make analysis and interpretation straightforward in methods like regression. Why this fits best: dichotomous directly names a two-category variable, which is the defining feature in the question. The other terms refer to things that aren’t about a variable’s number of categories. A discrete variable is about countable values but can include more than two categories. DFFit is a diagnostic statistic used to assess the influence of observations, not a type of variable. Direct effect is a concept in mediation analysis describing a pathway from an independent to a dependent variable, not a description of a variable’s categories.

A variable that has exactly two categories is described as dichotomous. This term specifically captures the idea of two mutually exclusive categories, like male and female, or yes and no. In practice, such variables are often coded as 0 and 1 to make analysis and interpretation straightforward in methods like regression.

Why this fits best: dichotomous directly names a two-category variable, which is the defining feature in the question. The other terms refer to things that aren’t about a variable’s number of categories. A discrete variable is about countable values but can include more than two categories. DFFit is a diagnostic statistic used to assess the influence of observations, not a type of variable. Direct effect is a concept in mediation analysis describing a pathway from an independent to a dependent variable, not a description of a variable’s categories.