PA 201

METHODS OF RESEARCH
BY: JOEBERT P. LONGNO
DEFINITION OF VARIABLE

• A variable is any characteristics of an individual, group, organization or social

phenomenon that changes.
• In social science, we used to describe variables as the different characteristics of
individual, groups, organizations, and social phenomena.
• The manner in which we describe things can sometimes help us understand a problem or
phenomenon more precisely.
TYPES OF VARIABLES

• Generally there are three (3) types of variables

• Independent Variables
• Dependent Variables
• Intervening Variables
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

• An independent variable is ....

• The causal variable or
• The variable that a researcher predicts will be the cause of a change in another variable
• Presumed cause, stimulus, antecedent
• Experimental treatment or predictor variables
EXAMPLE OF INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

• Teaching method
• Diet plan
• Medication
• Gender
• Age
• Treatment condition
DEPENDENT VARIABLE

• The effect or
• The variable that a researcher predicts will change as a result of a change in another
variable or set of variable.
• Criterion or outcome
EXAMPLE OF DEPENDENT VARIABLES

• Attitudes
• Success in graduate school
• Homesickness of first year at college
• Success at controlling behavior
• Reduction of symptoms
• Time in 100 meter dash
 INDEPENDENT VS. DEPENDENT

• An easy way to distinguish between the independent and dependent variables is to ask
which happens first.
• The independent variable always happens first.
• The first causal rule (temporal order) requires that the cause (independent variable)
must happen prior to the effect (dependent variable).
INTERVENING VARIABLE

• It sometimes called the confounding variable considered as relationship between

independent and dependent variables.
• occurs between the independent and dependent variables, and may change how, or even
if, the independent variable affects a dependent variable.
• In other words, intervening variables intervene in the causal relationship.
 INDEPENDENT, DEPENDENT OR
INTERVENING?

Children who experience domestic abuse

are more likely as adults to abuse their
domestic partners, unless they develop
strong attachments to non-abusive adults.
CATEGORICAL VS. QUANTITATIVE DATA

• Data
• consist of individuals and variables that give us information about those individuals.
• An individual can be an object or a person.
• A variable is an attribute, such as a measurement or a label.
CATEGORICAL VARIABLES

• Take category or label values and place an individual into one of several groups.
• Each observation can be placed in only one category, and the categories are mutually
exclusive.
• Places an individual into one several groups or categories. Includes numerical values for
which arithmetic operations does not make sense.
• Often information that takes values from a given set of categories or groups.
QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES

• Take numerical values and represent some kind of measurement.

• Records the attributes that can be measured by a magnitude or size.
• Have numerical values for which arithmetic operations makes sense.
• Example:Variable measuring temperature, weight, mass or the height of a person or the
annual income of a household.
CATEGORICAL VARIABLES VS QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES

• Categorical - In our example of medical records, smoking is a categorical variable, with

two groups, since each participant can be categorized only as either a nonsmoker or a
smoker. Race is the other categorical variables in our medical records example.
• Quantitative - In our medical example, age is an example of a quantitative variable
because it can take on multiple numerical values. It also makes sense to think about it in
numerical form; that is, a person can be 18 years old or 80 years old. Weight and height
are also examples of quantitative variables.
ZIP CODE :
FAMILY SIZE:
ANNUAL: INCOME
• Zip code : Categorical (Categorize individuals by geographic locations)
• Family size: Quantitative:(Family size is a variable w/ numerical values that can be averaged)
• Annual income: Quantitative (Family size is a variable w/ numerical values that can be averaged)
• CEREAL MANUFACTURER
• TARGET
• CALORIES
• FAT
• CEREAL MANUFACTURER: CATEGORICAL
• TARGET: CATEGORICAL
• CALORIES: QUANTITATIVE
• FAT: QUANTITATIVE
 MANIPULATED VARIABLES

• The MANIPULATED or independent variable is the one that you control.

• A manipulated variable is the independent variable in an experiment. It’s called
“manipulated” because it’s the one you can change. In other words, you can decide ahead
of time to increase it or decrease it. In an experiment you should only have one
manipulated variable at a time.
• As a simple example, let’s say you wanted to keep speed constant in a car. External
factors like acceleration, friction or tire pressure cause it to change. An accelerator (gas
pedal) can keep the speed constant — figuring out when to use the accelerator is the
control.The state of the accelerator is the manipulated variable. The process is speeding
up, via the accelerator and the speed itself is the controlled variable.
 OUTCOMES VARIABLES

• Outcome variables are usually the dependent variables which are observed and
measured by changing independent variables. These variables determine the effect of the
cause (independent) variables when changed for different values. The dependent variables
are the outcomes of the experiments determining what was caused or what changed as a
result of the study.
• Example:You are interested in how stress affects heart rate in humans.Your independent
variable would be the stress and the dependent variable would be the heart rate.You can
directly manipulate stress levels in your human subjects and measure how those stress
levels change heart rate.
HYPOTHESIS

• A proposition, or set of propositions, set forth as an explanation for the occurrence of

some specified group or phenomena, either asserted merely as a provisional conjecture
to guide investigation.
• A hypothesis has classical been referred to as an educated guess
• A mere assumption or guess.
EXAMPLES OF HYPOTHESIS:

• 1. If I replace the battery in my car, then my car will get better gas mileage.
• 2. If I eat more vegetables, then I will lose weight faster.
• 3. If I add fertilizer to my garden, then my plants will grow faster.
• 4. If I brush my teeth every day, then I will not develop cavities.
• 5. If I take my vitamins every day, then I will not feel tired.
• 6. If 50 mL of water are added to my plants each day and they grow, then adding 100 mL
of water each day will make them grow even more.
 ADVANTAGES OF STATING RESEARCH QUESTIONS
AS HYPOTHESIS
• It helps the investigator in knowing the direction in which he is to move. Without
hypothesis it will be just duping in the dark and not moving in the right direction.
• It is with the help of hypothesis, that it becomes easy to decide as to what type of data is
to be collected and what type of data is simply to be ignored.
• A properly formulate hypothesis is always essential for drawing proper and reasonable
conclusions.
• It helps in concentrating only on relevant factors dropping irrelevant ones. Many
Irrelevant factors otherwise get into study can easily be ignored
 DISADVANTAGES OF STATING RESEARCH
QUESTIONS AS HYPOTHESIS
• The investigators must not currently know the outcome of a potentially falsifying test or that it remains
reasonably under continuing investigation.
• Stating a hypothesis may lead to a bias, either consciously or unconsciously, on the part of the researcher. This
is because the researcher may be tempted to arrange the procedures or manipulate the data in such a way as
to bring about a desired outcome. This depends on the honesty of the researchers
• Stating hypothesis may prevent researchers from noticing other phenomena that might be important to study.
• It may not happen
• It’s not constant
• it’s unpredictable
 TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS

• Simple
• Complex
• Empirical
• Null
• Alternative
• Logical
• statistical
 TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS

• Simple - Simple hypothesis is that one in which there exits relationship between two
variables one is called independent variable or cause and the other is dependent variable
or effect.
• Ex. Smoking leads to cancer
• The higher ratio of unemployment leads to crimes.
 TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS

• COMPLEX HYPOTHESIS - Complex hypothesis is that one in which as relationship

among variables exists.
• In this type dependent and independent variables are more than two
• Ex. Smoking and other drugs leads to cancer, tension, chest infections etc.
• The higher ration of unemployment poverty illiteracy leads to crimes like dacoit etc.
 TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS

• EMPIRICAL HYPOTHESIS - or working hypothesis which means it is based on evidence.

• In scientific method the word "empirical" refers to the use of working hypothesis that can be
tested using observation and experiment.
• Empirical data is produced by experiment and observation
• Comes to life when a theory is being put to the test, using observation and experiment. It's
no longer just an idea or notion. It's actually going through some trial and error, and perhaps
changing around those independent variables.
• Roses watered with liquid Vitamin B grow faster than roses watered with liquid Vitamin E.
(Here, trial and error is leading to a series of findings.)
 TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS

• Null Hypothesis exists when a researcher believes there is no relationship between the
two variables, or there is a lack of information to state a scientific hypothesis. This is
something to attempt to disprove or discredit. It is denoted by H0
• There is no significant change in my health during the times when I drink green tea only
or root beer only.
 TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS

• Alternative hypothesis - In an attempt to disprove a null hypothesis, researchers will seek

to discover an alternative hypothesis.
• The alternative hypothesis, denoted by H1 or Ha.
• My health improves during the times when I drink green tea only, as opposed to root
beer only.
 TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS

• A logical hypothesis is a proposed explanation possessing limited evidence. Generally, you

want to turn a logical hypothesis into an empirical hypothesis, putting your theories or
postulations to the test.
• Example: Cacti experience more successful growth rates than tulips on Mars. (Until we're
able to test plant growth in Mars' ground for an extended period of time, the evidence
for this claim will be limited and the hypothesis will only remain logical.)
 TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS

• STATISTICAL HYPOTHESIS
• A hypothesis which can be verified statistically called statistical hypothesis.
• The statement would be logical or illogical but if statistic verifies it, it will be statistical
hypothesis.
• If you wanted to conduct a study on the life expectancy of Savannians, you would want to
examine every single resident of Savannah. This is not practical.Therefore, you would
conduct your research using a statistical hypothesis, or a sample of the Savannian
population.
DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESIS

• A one-tailed directional hypothesis predicts the nature of the effect of the independent
variable on the dependent variable.
• Predicts the directions of the relationship between the independent and dependent
variable.
• E.g., High quality of nursing education will lead to high quality of nursing practice skills
NON-DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESIS

• A two-tailed non-directional hypothesis predicts that the independent variable will have
an effect on the dependent variable, but the direction of the effect is not specified.
• Predicts the relationship between independent and dependent variable but does not
sacrifice the directional relationship
• E.g., The teacher student relationship. Influence the student learning
• A test of a nondirectional alternative hypothesis does not state the direction of the
difference, it indicates only that a difference exists.
• In contrast, a directional alternative hypothesis specifies the direction of the tested
relationship, stating that one variable is predicted to be larger or smaller than null value
 ASSUMPTION

• Are presumed to be true statement of facts relevance to the research problem

• However no adequate evidence exists to support this belief
• In other words, as assumption is an act of faith which does not have empirical evidence
to support.