This page contains all of the variables that are available for use in the SESMAD database. Each of these variables is viewable in its own page via the table below. In addition to providing the variables that are measured in the cases of the SESMAD database, this page serves as a library of many of the concepts and variables that have proven to be most important in the study of human-environment interactions. Each variable is described by a set of properties, including the following:

Type: Whether the variable is measured at the (1) interval, (2) ordinal, (3) categorical, or (4) open-text level.

Component Type: What type of component (e.g. actor group) the variable describes.

Theme: What broad thematic category (e.g. institutions) the variable belongs to.

Question: What question is posed to the user when they are measuring the variable for a case.

Select options: The range of values that the variable can take on.

Unit: For interval variables, the unit of measurement.

Role: Records whether the variable describes components with a particular role (e.g. commons users)

Importance: Describes the theoretical importance of the variable

Definition: provides a basic definition of the variable.

Sector: Records what sector(s) (e.g. fisheries) the variable is associated with, if it is specific to a particular sector.

Variables can be added by users to help them describe their own type of case. Through the sector property, variable can be made specific to different sectors (e.g. fisheries), such that only those cases that are also assigned to that sector will be asked about that variable. In this way the database tailors the questions asked of a user to the type of system they are examining.