Analysis of Ratio Variables: Opportunities and Pitfalls

Abstract

In sociological studies it is usually instructive, if not essential, to express the statistical characteristics of a ratio variable in terms of the component variables from which it was formed. Such an analysis may be carried out on either the component variables. To exemplify this approach, Pearson's approximation formulas are introduced and applied to numerical examples. Topics in sociology that might be profitably considered from this point of view are discussed: (1) organizational sociology, (5) residential succession, and (6) complex ratios. The pit-falls of ratio variables and ways of avoiding them are summarized briefly.