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The Nature of Variables

The document discusses different types of variables that may be involved in research studies. Variables can change and differ depending on time and situation. Independent variables cause changes in dependent variables, which are measured. Extraneous variables not intended to be studied can also influence relationships between independent and dependent variables. Constant, attribute, covariate, continuous, dichotomous, latent, manifest, exogenous, and endogenous are also defined as different types of variables.

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77 views

The Nature of Variables

The document discusses different types of variables that may be involved in research studies. Variables can change and differ depending on time and situation. Independent variables cause changes in dependent variables, which are measured. Extraneous variables not intended to be studied can also influence relationships between independent and dependent variables. Constant, attribute, covariate, continuous, dichotomous, latent, manifest, exogenous, and endogenous are also defined as different types of variables.

Uploaded by

Bboy Andrei
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Nature of

Variables
Variables
 Are “changing qualities or characteristics”
of persons or things like age, gender,
intelligence, ideas, achievements,
confidence, and so on that are involved in
your research study.
 Made up of the root or base word “vary”
which means to undergo changes or to
differ from, variables have different or
varying values in relation to time and
situation.
Types of Variables
 Independent variables are
those that cause changes in the
subject
 Dependent variables are those
that bear or manifest the effects
caused by the independent
variables.
Variable Relationships
 In a scientific way of studying
cause-effect relationships,
these two variables,
independent and dependent
are part and parcel of the
research because the first one
is the cause; the second, the
effect that you can subject to
any form of measurement.
Variable Relationships

 However, as you carry out the research, it is


possible that one, two, or more variables or
extra variables crop up to create an impact on
the relationship between the independent and
dependent variables. Being extra variables,
they form this other type of variables called
extraneous variables.
Variable Relationships
Extraneous variables like age, gender, or
personality traits may suddenly surface to
create effects on the relationships of the two
basic variables. Such extraneous variables are
called participant variables if they refer to the
moods, emotions, or intelligence of the subject;
situational variables, if they pertain to nature of
the place: smelly, chilly, cold, hot, spacious, and
the like.
Other Types of Variables
 Extraneous variables are to be controlled by
you, the experimenter. But if they do not give
in to your control, they become confounding
variables that can strongly influence your
study.
 Involved not within the research situation but
outside the research process, the extraneous
variables exist as “nuisance variables,” whose
potency need to go down to prevent it from
affecting the results negatively. (Suter 2013, p.
137; Thomas 2013; Schreiber 2012).
Other Types of Variables
(Russell 2013; Babbie 2013)

1. Constant – do not undergo any changes


during an experiment

2. Attribute – characteristics of people:


intelligence, creativity, anxiety, learning
styles, etc.

3. Covariate – included in the research study


to create interactions with the independent
and dependent variables
Other Types of Variables
(Russell 2013; Babbie 2013)

4. Continuous – quantitative in nature and is


used in interval or ratio scale of
measurement

5. Dichotomous – has only two possible


results: one or zero

6. Latent – cannot be directly observed like


personality traits
Other Types of Variables
(Russell 2013; Babbie 2013)

7. Manifest – can be directly observed to give


proofs to latent variables

8. Exogenous – found outside an identified


model

9. Endogenous – found inside; as a part of


identified model

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