RESEARCH VARIABLES AND THEIR TYPES

A variable is any qualitative or quantitative characteristic that can change and have more than one value, such
as age, height, weight, gender, etc.

Before conducting research, it’s essential to know what needs to be measured or analyzed and choose a suitable
statistical test to present your study’s findings.

Independent Vs. Dependent Vs. Control Variable

TYPE DEFINITION EXAMPLE

Independent It is the variable that influences other variables. • Age
Variable • Gender
(Stimulus)

Dependent The dependent variable is the outcome of the You want to identify “How refined
variable influence of the independent variable. carbohydrates affect the health of human
(Response) beings?”
Dependent variable: the health of human
beings

You can manipulate the consumption of

refined carbs in your human participants
and measure how those levels of
consuming processed carbohydrates
influence human health.

Control Control variables are variables that are not Physical activities, water consumption,
Variable changed and kept constant throughout the and the natural environment of the
experiment. participants.

Types of Variables Based on the Types of Data

A data is referred to as the information and statistics gathered for analysis of a research topic. Data is broadly
divided into two categories, such as:

Quantitative/Numerical data is associated with the aspects of measurement, quantity, and extent.

Categorial data is associated with groupings.

A qualitative variable consists of qualitative data, and a quantitative variable consists of a quantitative variable.

Quantitative Variable
The quantitative variable is associated with measurement, quantity, and extent, like how many. It follows the
statistical, mathematical, and computational techniques in numerical data such as percentages and statistics. The
research is conducted on a large group of population.

Example: Find out the weight of students of the fifth standard studying in government schools.

The quantitative variable can be further categorized into continuous and discrete.

Type of
variable Definition Example

Continuous A continuous variable is a quantitative variable that can take a • Income and age
Variable value between two specific values. • Scale: Interval and
ratio.
• Number of fruits in a
basket
• Number of votes in an
election

PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2
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 Type of
variable Definition Example

Discrete A discrete variable is a quantitative variable whose attributes are Literacy rate, gender, and
Variable separated from each other. nationality.
Scale: Nominal and ordinal.

Categorial Variable
The categorical variable includes measurements that vary in categories such as names but not in terms of rank
or degree. It means one level of a categorical variable cannot be considered better or greater than another level.

Example: Gender, brands, colors, zip codes

The categorical variable is further categorized into three types:

Type of
variable Definition Example

Dichotomous This is the categorical variable with two Alcoholic (Yes/No)

(Binary) possible results (Yes/No)
Variable

Nominal A nominal Variable can take the value that is • Eye colour
Variable not organized in terms of groups, degree, or • Religion
rank. • Gender
• Brand

Ordinal Ordinal Variable can take the value that can • Size of clothes (small,
Variable be logically ordered or ranked. medium, large, extra, large)
• level of seniority in college
students (fresher, junior,
senior)

Note: Sometimes, an ordinal variable also acts as a quantitative variable. Ordinal data has an order, but the
intervals between scale points may be uneven.

Other Types of Variables

It’s important to understand the difference between dependent and independent variables and know whether
they are quantitative or categorical to choose the appropriate statistical test.

There are many other types of variables to help you differentiate and understand them.

Type of
variable Definition Example
Confounding The confounding variable is a hidden variable that There is an association between water
variables produces an association between two unrelated consumption and cold drink sales.
variables because the hidden variable affects both The confounding variable could be the hot
of them. weather and compels people to drink a lot of
water and a cold drink to reduce heat and thirst
caused due to the heat.
Latent These are the variables that cannot be observed or Self-confidence and motivation cannot be
Variable measured directly. measured directly. Still, they can be interpreted
through other variables such as habits,
achievements, perception, and lifestyle.
Composite A composite variable is a Survey questionnaire in which respondents
variables combination of multiple variables. were asked to indicate the purpose of using
It is used to measure computers. They could score multiple
categories, such as:

PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2
Ms. Aira A. Mores
 Type of
variable Definition Example
multidimensional aspects that are
difficult to observe. • Entertainment
• Online education
• Accounting
• Database management, storage, and
retrieval
• Research

Moderator The moderator variable affects the cause-and- • Gender

Variable effect relationship between the independent and • Race
dependent variables. As a result, the influence of • Class
the independent variable is in the presence of the
moderator variable. Suppose you want to conduct a study,
educational awareness of a specific area.
Educational awareness will be your dependent
variable. The area will be an independent
variable if you feel that the student’s age/race
may also affect the student’s association
between area and educational awareness. Then
age/race will be considered as the moderator
variable. However, they might be more than
one moderator variable, and you need to decide
which one to use a moderator variable.

Next Lessons in PR2:

• Designing research useful in daily life
• Writing a Research Title
• Describing Background of Research
• Writing Research Questions and Statement of the Problem
• Scope and Delimitation of the Study

References:
Troy, C. (2021). Types of Variables – A Comprehensive Guide. Retrieved from Types of Variables - A
Comprehensive Guide - Research Prospect

PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2
Ms. Aira A. Mores