Practical Research II

Lesson IV : The Nature of

Variables
What are variables?
Variable
 A variable is a concept or abstract idea that can be
described in measurable terms. In research terms. In
research, this term refers to the measurable
characteristics, qualities, traits, or attributes of a
particular individual, object, or situation being studied.

 A variable is not something that we can measure, but

also something that we can manipulate and something
we can control for.
 Gender, hair color, shoe size, income levels, disease
status – all of these are examples of variables. However,
variables can also measure abstract concepts – for
example, self-esteem, well-being, sense of religiosity,
intelligence, etc. Some variables are more complex, and
may be studied through different dimensions of a
particular item or phenomenon.
 Quantitative research places great emphasis on variables
because the main goal of quantitative research is to examine the
relationship between two or more variables. Therefore, once the
researcher identifies a research topic, the next step is to identify
the key variables in the study. The best way to do this is to read
studies that are similar to your chosen study. Once you analyze
the different types of variables identified by other researchers,
you will have a better idea of what variables might work best in
your project.
 Identifying the most appropriate variables is
important for multiple reasons:

 Variables provide focus to the study. So if you pick the wrong ones,
the findings of the study may go in a direction that was not
expected by you.

 It is also important to focus on the methods and tools for

measuring the selected variables. Picking the wrong ones may also
take the findings into an unintended direction.

 Variables are also useful when you are searching for other studies
(for example in journal articles) that are similar to yours. Thus, the
variables can serve as search terms.
In summary, during your literature review, spend some
time analyzing the different types of variables
used in the various studies relating to your topic, and
how these choices affected the findings of the study.
This process will give you some ideas of different
variables you could use for your study, and will help
you make the most informed choice.
 TYPES OF VARIABLES
Independent variables are
variables which are
manipulated or controlled or
changed, it is what the
researcher studies to see its
relationship or effects.
 Presumed or possible cause
Dependent variables are the
outcome variables and are the
variables for which we calculate
statistics. It is the variable
which changes on account of
independent variable and also
influenced or affected by the
independent variable.
 Presumed results (effects)
 IMPORTANCE OF EXPERIMENTAL
RESEARCH DESIGN

In addition, experimental research is a powerful tool for

businesses and organizations. By manipulating variables
such as marketing strategies, product design, and
customer service, companies can understand what
works best and identify new opportunities for growth..
In conducting research studies, researchers observe how the
Dependent variables change as the Independent variable
changes. In an experimental study, the researcher controls or
manipulates the Independent variable to see how this affects (or
not) changes in the dependent variable(s).
For instance, in a study to determine whether how long a
student sleeps affects test scores, the independent variable is
the length of time spent sleeping while the dependent variable
is the test score.
 TYPES OF NON-EXPERIMENTAL
RESEARCH DESIGN
 Descriptive Research Design - also referred as Survey
Research that can be used to get more details and tries to
find, to describe the existing status of a variable or
phenomenon. It should be applied to give a detailed
description of the phenomenon or some factor at the
moment. When the data is finally gathered, only after that
the researchers start to develop a hypothesis. Or the
researcher does not start with a hypothesis, but naturally
develops one after the data is collected. Data collection is
mostly observational in natural situation.
 Sample problems and/or research questions that
can lead to descriptive research are:

 Business and Market researchers that want to observe habits

and traits of consumers or brand users.

 Organization, company and a business industry that wants to

assess the mental state and status of its staff.
 Scales of Measurement of Variables:

1. Nominal Variables
 also called the called the categorical variable scale, is defined
as a scale used for labeling variables into distinct
classifications and doesn’t involve a quantitative value or
order.

 This scale is the simplest scale of the four variable

measurement scales.
 Nominal Scale Examples:

 Gender
 Political preferences
 Place of residence

What is your gender? What is your political Where do you live?

 Male preferences?  Suburbs
 Female  Independent  City
 Democrat  Town
 Republican
 Scales of Measurement of Variables:

2. Ordinal Variables
 It is defined as a variable scale used simply to depict order of
variables (what’s important and significant) and not the
difference between each of the variables.
 This scale is typically measures of non-numeric concepts like
satisfaction, happiness, discomfort, etc.
 However, while we can rank them, they do not carry a
numerical value. They can only measure how one value is
greater or lesser than another value.
 An example may be asking someone how often he or she watch movies on
television – their response options are Very often, Frequently, Sometimes or
Never. From his or her responses, we will know that someone who
responds “frequently” watches movie more often than someone who
responds “sometimes.” However, none of these responses has a numerical
value, so we cannot assess what is the numerical distance between
“frequently” and “sometimes.” Another example would be if we were to ask
someone if they approve of the Right to Education Act. They may respond
“Yes,” “No,” “Very much in agreement with it,” or “Completely disagree with
it.” These response options form the different categories of the variable
“Opinion on Right to Education Act” which is an ordinal variable.
 Scales of Measurement of Variables:

3. Interval Variables
 is defined as a numerical scale where the order of variables is
known as well as the difference between these variables.
Variables which have familiar, constant and computable
differences are classified using the Interval scale.
 Interval scale contains all the properties of ordinal scale, in
addition to which, it offers a calculation of the difference
between variables.
 Likert scale is the most used interval scale example.
 Scales of Measurement of Variables:

4. Ratio Variables
 It is defined as a variable measurement scale that not only
produces the order of variables but also makes the difference
between variables known along with information on the value
of true zero.

 In addition to the fact that the ratio scale does everything

that a nominal, ordinal, and interval scale can do, it can also
establish the value of absolute zero.
 The following questions fall under the Ratio Scale Category :

• What is your daughters’ current height?

- Less than 5feet
- 5 feet 1 inches – 5 feet 5 inches
- 5 feet 6 inches – 6 feet
- More than 6 feet
• What is your weight in kilograms?
- Less than 50 kilograms
- 51 – 70 kilograms
- 71 – 90 kilograms
- 91 – 110 kilograms
- More than 110 kilograms
In conclusion, variables are important because they help to
measure concepts in a study. Because quantitative studies focus
on measuring and explaining variables, choosing the right
variables is important. The first step is to identify the correct
variables to measure a property. Equally important is the
conceptual definition, which explains how a variable will be
defined and measured within the context of a particular study.
Variables are measured on different scales, where at one end
they can only be categorized or ranked, and at the other end
they can be analyzed statistically.