How should variables in statistics be understood? I had a slightly basic question about variables (particularly in statistics).
We would say that “height” is a variable. In my mind, “height” does not just represent different values, like 2, 45, or 75. It represents values + units: 2 feet, 45 feet, or 75 feet.
However, when we work with variables mathematically, I believe that we think of them as solely representing values / numbers. For example, we will say statements such as:
height = 2
weight = height + 4
weight = 6
It seems slightly confusing to me to have to think about variables in 2 different ways. Am I thinking about variables correctly? Thank you all for your help in advance!

Largely ignorable--the regression won't care if you measure height in inches or feet. However very small or very large numbers (millions or millionths) can cause issues due to software limitations. So when dealing with a large number such as count of population, or count of road miles, you might divide the total (e.g. 12345678) by a thousand to get 1234.5678. Likewise, if you are dealing with a very small number (e.g. pediatric cancer rate per million of .001234), you might change units to get 1.234.
