variable V.S. variance

variable （變項、變因、變數）

• a property（屬性或特質） of an object or event that can take on different values.
• e.g. hair color, self-confidence, social support, gender or treatment group
• must be operationally defined (the methods for measuring or evaluating them must be clearly delineated)

variance （變異數）

• 分散情形的指標，表示一個團體內各成員在某一變項方面的個別差異大小
• the larger variance, the greater the dispersion of  scores
• the larger variance, the smaller the more homogeneous the scores