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Title: Variables And Types Of Variables

Munnaza Bibi

Roll no # BPSYF21M039

Assignment: 1

Department of Psychology, University of Mianwali - Mianwali

PSYC-6108; Introduction to Research Methodology

Dr. Muneeb Ul Haq

October 24, 2023

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Introduction

Variables

Variables in the context of research study are some features with potential to change,

typically one that may influence or reflect a relationship or outcome. Something that varies

(as opposed to constants, such as n, that do not vary) different values in different situations.

For Example:

Age, income and expenses, family size, eye colour, class grades.

Types of Variables

Qualitative Variables

Qualitative variables are those that express a qualitative attribute, a variable describing a

characteristic.

e.g. Name of department, cast, hair colour, religion, gender etc.

Quantitative Variables

Quantitative variables are also called numeric variables, those variables that are

measured in terms of numbers.

e.g. Age of person, class strength, family size, number of subjects etc.

Discrete Variables

A discrete variable, restricted to certain values, usually consists of whole numbers.

e.g. The number of classes in a week for a specific subject. The number of mobile cards sold

in a store within seven days.

Continuous Variables

A continuous variable may take on an infinite number of intermediate values along a

specified interval.
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e.g. Temperature, The sugar level in the human body; Blood pressure reading etc.

Dependent Variables and Independent Variable

Dependent variables used to describe or measure the problem or outcome under study is

called a dependent variable. The independent variable is used to describe or measure the

factor that is assumed to cause or atleast to influence the problem or outcome is called

independent variable.

e.g. Low intake of food causes underweight, Smoking enhances the risk of lung cancer.

‘Low intake of food’ is believed to have caused the problem of being underweight.

Underweight is a dependent variable and low intake of food is an independent variable.

Smoking is an independent variable and lung cancer is a dependent variable.

Background Variables

These variables are often related to many independent variables, so they indirectly

influence the problem. They are called background variables.

e.g. religion, place of birth, marital status etc.

Extraneous Variables

An extraneous variable is any variable other than the independent variable that may

affect the outcome of an experiment, potentially introducing error.

e.g. Temperature: When studying plant growth, unexpected temperature fluctuations can

influence results.

Moderating Variables

A moderating variable affects the direction or strength of the relationship between two

other variables.

e.g. Seniors are more likely to have accidents due to vision impairments. In this example

accidents are the independent variable, vision impairment are the dependent variable and the

seniors are moderators.

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Mediating Variables

Mediating variables are behavioural, biological, psychological, or social constructs that

transmit the effect of one variable to another variable.

e.g. If you were researching the effects of age on job satisfaction, then education level could

be considered a mediating variable, as it may explain why older people have higher job

satisfaction than younger people - they may have more experience or better qualifications,

which lead to greater job satisfaction.

Intervening Variables

Intervening variable is a hypothetical variable used to explain causal links between other

variables. Intervening cannot be observed in an experiment. Sometimes called a mediator

variable.

e.g. There is an association between being poor and having a short life span. Just because

someone is poor doesn’t mean that will lead to early death, so other hypothetical variables are

used to explain the phenomenon.

Suppressor Variables

Some hidden factors may suppress the true relationship between the two original

variables. Such a factor is referred to as a suppressor variable because it suppress the

relationship between the other two variables. True relationship between variables reappear.

e.g. Low age may pull education up but income down. In contrast, a high age may pull

income up but education down, effectively canceling the relationship between education and

income unless age is controlled for.

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