# About indicator variables

An indicator variable is a special kind of column that takes a value or either 0 or 1. Its value is derived from an underlying expression; the value is 1 if the expression is true for a particular record, and 0 otherwise.

Expressions can have an unlimited number of conditions that can use any of the table’s columns. Indicator variables might be used to identify records with values meeting a certain threshold, or records with certain combinations of values.

If an indicator variable is used as the outcome variable of a model, you can choose to model it with a probit, logit, or linear model. Indicator variables can be summed and tabulated like numeric columns, but in general are not first-class numeric columns.

See also:

- Creating an indicator variable
- Editing an indicator variable
- About recode variables
- About models

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