A variable is a characteristic that can take on different values for different members of the group under study.
For example, a group of university freshman will be found to differ in sex, height, intelligence, attitudes, and many other ways. These characteristics aer called variables.
On the other hand, if a characteristic is the same for every member of the group, this characteristic is referred to as a constant. since all the students in this example are freshmen, the characteristics of status of university student is a constant.
