Which of the following is a property of a $randomvariable$?

• A. It can only take $-$ values.
• B. It assigns a $realnumber$ to each outcome in the sample space.
• C. It is always independent of other variables.
• D. It must always be a $continuous$ variable.

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand what a random variable is: it is a function that assigns a real number to each outcome in a sample space of a random experiment.
2. Recognize that a random variable can take on any real values, not limited to only negative values or only positive values.
3. Know that a random variable can be either discrete (taking countable values) or continuous (taking values in an interval), so it is not required to always be continuous.
4. Realize that a random variable may or may not be independent of other variables; independence is a separate property and not inherent to all random variables.
5. Therefore, the key property of a random variable is that it assigns a real number to each outcome in the sample space.