Variables &

Scales of measurement

DR MD MOSHARAF HOSSAIN
PSYCHOLOGY AND
COUNSELLING
 Objective
• Able to define and identify the different types of
variables
• State the differences between an independent
and dependent variable
• Explain the types of variables: quantitative and
qualitative
• List the different scales of measurement
• Understand and identify the different scales of
measurement of the various types of variable
 What is a variable
• A characteristic of a person, object or
phenomenon
• May take different values, thus it is
measurable
• It is not fixed (constant)
• Eg. Weight of a person
– Variable weight can have different values 40,
50, 60 kg
– Age, sex, ethnicity, education level
 Types of variables
• A variable can be classified in many ways
• Viewpoint of causal relationship
– Independent variables – the cause that brings
about changes in the situation
– Dependent variables – outcome or effect
variables
– Extraneous variables – unmeasured variables
that are affecting the cause-effect
relationship
– Confounding variables – links the dependent
and independent variables
 Confounding variable
• Is a risk factor for the disease under study
which is significantly associated both the
occurrence of a disease and with one of its
factors, but is not itself a cause
• It may strengthen or weaken the apparent
relationship between the problem and
the possible cause
• Mother’s education malnutrition
(independent) (dependent)
Family income (confounding variable)
 Examples of dependent and
independent variable
• Relationship between lung cancer and
smoking
• Lung cancer –dependent variable
• Smoking independent variable

Smoking Lung Cancer

 Example

Smoking Lung cancer

Independent variable Dependent variable

Age of the person

Duration of smoking
Severity of smoking

Extraneous variable
 Types of variables
By unit of measurement, variables can be
• Quantitative (nominal or ordinal) or
Qualitative (interval or ratio scale)
• Categorical (nominal or ordinal) or
Continous (interval or ratio scale)
 Quantitative variable
• Value is expressed as numbers
(numerically) or whose categories can be
measured and ordered according to the
quantity or amount
• Can make statements about the relative
size of the difference
• Eg age (yr), birth-weight (kg), blood
glucose level, systolic blood pressure,
 Quantitative variable
• Can either be continous or discrete
• It is continous if it can attain any value
including a fraction or decimal
– Eg of continous variable
– Weight, height, age and blood pressure
• Discrete is when it can only assume
integral or whole values
– Eg household size, population size
 Qualitative data
• Deal with frequencies of different
categories according to some
characteristic or quality
• Cannot make any statements about
the relative size of their difference
• Gender –male, female
• Educational level – high, average and
low
• Age – old, young, child
• Temperature – hot, cold
 Measurement scales
• Nominal
• Ordinal
• Interval
• Ratio
 Nominal
• Measurement of qualitative data
• Indicates a difference
• Unordered categories, no direction or
magnitude
– Sex- male /female
– Alive or dead
– Blood group O, A, B, AB
– Skin colour
 Ordinal or ranking scale
• Measurement of quantitative and qualitative
variables
• Indicates a difference
• Indicates the direction of the difference
• Ordered categories
– Severity of disease mild, moderate and severe
– Better, same or worse
– Agree, neutral, disagree
– Pain level , no pain, some pain, very severe
pain
– Below average, average, above average
 Interval scale
• Measurement of quantitative variables in which the exact
distance between the categories can be determined but the zero
point is arbitrary.
• Have characteristic of an ordinal scale
– Indicates a difference
– Indicates the direction of the difference
– Indicates the amount of the difference
• Has a starting and terminating point with equally
divided unit/intervals
• Has unit of measurement

• Eg temperature (0 deg C is just a point of

measurement)
• Centigrade – from 0°C to 100°C
• Fahrenheit – from 32°F to 212°F
 Ratio scale
• Measurement of quantitative data where the zero point is fixed
and the ratio of the two numbers can be meaningfully computed
and interpretated.
• It is an absolute scale
• Has all the properties of nominal, ordinal and interval scales
– Indicates a difference
– Indicates the direction of the difference
– Indicates the amount of the difference
• Indicates an absolute zero
• Eg weight (zero weight means absence of weight)
• Income, age, height
• A person who is 40 years old is twice as old as 20 years old
• A person earning RM600 earns three times the salary of a
person earning RM200
 Exercise
• Educational level –none, primary, secondary, tertiary
– Qualitative - ordinal
• Weight (kg) – quantitative - continous
• Height (kg) –quantitative - continous
• Age (years) - quantitative - continous
• Smoking status –no, yes – qualitative - nominal
• Physical activity at home- sitting, moderate, heavy
– Qualitative - ordinal
• Blood glucose – milligram% -quantitative - continous
• Serum cholesterol –milligram% - quantitative - continous
• Systolic blood pressure-mmHg - quantitative - continous
• Body mass index-wt/ht.ht - quantitative - continous
 Exercise
• Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) –
quantitative continous
• Sex – males, females – qualitative -
nominal
• Vegetarian status –vegetarian, non
vegetarian –qualitative - nominal
 Summary
• Knowledge of the different types of
variables and how they are measured is a
crucial role in research
• Formulate the research problem
• Research instrument
• Analysis of data
• What statistical tests to be done.