Latent and observable variables: Difference between revisions

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{{For|similar uses|Hidden variable (disambiguation){{!}}Hidden variable}}

In [[statistics]], '''latent variables''' (from [[Latin]]: [[present participle]] of ''lateo'', “lie hidden”<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/latent | title=Latent | date=30 August 2024 }}</ref>) are [[Variable (mathematics)|variables]] that can only be [[Statistical inference|inferred]] indirectly through a [[mathematical model]] from other '''observable variables''' that can be directly [[observation|observed]] or [[measurement|measured]].<ref>Dodge, Y. (2003) ''The Oxford Dictionary of Statistical Terms'', OUP. {{isbn|0-19-920613-9}}</ref> Such ''[[latent variable model]]s'' are used in many disciplines, including [[engineering]], [[medicine]], [[ecology]], [[physics]], [[machine learning]]/[[artificial intelligence]], [[natural language processing]], [[bioinformatics]], [[chemometrics]], [[demography]], [[economics]], [[management]], [[political science]], [[psychology]] and the [[social sciences]].

Latent variables may correspond to aspects of physical reality. These could in principle be measured, but may not be for practical reasons. Among the earliest expressions of this idea is [[Francis Bacon]]'s [[polemic]] the ''[[Novum Organum]]'', itself a challenge to the more traditional logic expressed in [[Aristotle]]'s [[Organon]].