VARIABLES
Each person/thing a researcher collects data on is called an observation.
Observations possess a variety of characteristics. If a characteristics of an
observation is the same for every member of the group (doesn‟t vary) it is called
a Constant. If a characteristic of an observation differs for group members it is
called a Variable.
The term variable is derived from the root word “vary” meaning, changing in
amount, volume, number, form, nature or type. A variable is any characteristics
of an individual, group, organization or social phenomenon that changes.
Basically, it is a measureable characteristic that varies.
For example, the outcome of rolling dice or flipping a coin is a variable.
Variables aren‟t always „quantitative‟ or numerical it can also be qualitative
(also known as categorical), for example
1. City- new Delhi, Indore, Mumbai, etc..
2. Gender – Male or Female
3. Marital status – never married, single, married, divorced or widowed
4. Family income- zero to billions of rupees
5. A person‟s attitude towards women empowerment – highly favorable to
highly unfavorable.
In this way the variation can be in quantity, intensity, amount or type. The
examples can be production units, absenteeism, gender, religion,
motivation, grade, age, etc.. A variable may be situation specific, for
example gender is a variable but if in a particular situation like a class of
psychology or fashion design, if there are only female students, then in
this situation gender will not be considered as a variable.
Types of variables:
A variable can be classified in a number of ways. The classification
developed here results from looking at variables in three ways:
1. The casual relationship : in studies attempting to investigate a causal
relationship or association may involve four types of variables
a. Independent Variables: is the cause that is responsible for
bringing the changes in a situation. Independent Variable (IV)
are the treatment, what is manipulated in a study, or the
intervention that the researcher chooses to study. It is called
independent because its value does not depend on and is not
affected by the state of any other variable in the experiment.
Dependent upon the mode of manipulation, some experts have
tried to divide the independent variable into:
„Type E’ independent variable: it is directly or experimentally
manipulated. E.g: to study the effect of noise upon the task performance
in an industry. Manipulate noise by dividing into categories –
continuous, intermittent and no noise.
„Type S’ independent variable: it is manipulated through the process of
selection only. Eg.: is the rate of production dependent upon the age of
the worker? The experimenter will have to select groups of workers on
the basis of their age.
b. Dependent Variables: the changes occur due to introduction of
an independent variable. Dependent Variables (DV) are the
variables that are influenced by or depend upon the independent
variables. They are the outcomes or effects. They are the factors
that are being observed or measured.
c. Extraneous Variables: affects the cause- effect relationship.
Extraneous variables are related to independent or dependent
variables; however, they are undesirable and not a part of the
experiment but can influence the relationship between the
independent and dependent variables. For example: Imagine
that a researcher has devised an experiment to investigate
whether giving study extra study time can help reduce anxiety.
The amount of the study time the students have is independent
variable(since what the experimenter manipulates) and the
amount of the test anxiety the students experience is the
dependent variable(since it is what the researchers are
measuring ). Hence, extraneous variables such as temperature of
the room and the time of the day the student is tested might
have an influence on the independent variable as well. To
control extraneous variables, researcher/ experimenter should
ensure that the students are tested on the same time of the day in
rooms of the same temperature.
d. Confounded Variables: affects both independent and
dependent variables. It is an outside influence that changes the
effect of a dependent and independent variable. Confounding
occurs when effects of variables are somehow mixed so that the
individual effect of the variables cannot be identified. It is
„hidden‟ that affects the variables in question but is not known
or acknowledged, and thus ruin an experiment and produce
useless results. For example: if researcher trying to find out
whether a lack of exercise has an effect on weight gain, the lack
of exercise is the independent variable and weight gain is
dependent variable. A confounding variable would be any other
influence that has an effect on weight gain. Amount of food
consumption is a confounding variable, age is also a
confounding variable. Each may change the effect of the
experiment deign.
2. The design of the study: a study that examines association or
causation may be a controlled experiment or a quasi-experiment or an
ex- post facto or non- experimental study. In experiments thee
independent (CAUSE) variable may be introduced or manipulated by
the researcher. In these situation, there are two sets of variables:
a. Active Variables: those variables can be manipulated, changed
or controlled. This is the highest level of independent variables
and are also called experimental variables. Eg: teaching
methods, amount of drug administered, experimental
intervention, program, service etc.
b. Attribute Variables: those variables that cannot be changed or
manipulated or controlled, and that reflect the characteristics of
the study population. Researchers cannot manipulate these but
can only measure. E.g. age, gender, education, income, blood
pressure.
3. The unit of measurement: from the view point of the unit of
measurement, there are two ways of categorizing variables:
a. Quantitative Variables: provides numerical measures of
individuals. Arithmetic operations such as addition and
subtraction can be performed on the values of the quantitative
variables and it provides meaningful results. Deals with
numbers, varies in amount, can be measured, and measured
either on an interval or a ratio scale. Quantitative variables are
further divided into two categories:
i. Continuous Variables: a continuous variable is one
which is capable of being measured in any arbitrary
degree of fineness or exactness. Can assume an infinite
number of values between any two specific values.
Obtained by measuring (how much). For example:
between 62 and 82 inches, there are a lot of possibilities:
one participant might be 64.03456 inches tall, and
another person might be 70.9898 inches tall. Same as age
can be measured in years months and days like, 23 years,
10 months 5 days, 12 hours, 4 mins, 45 secs….and so on.
More examples can be temperature and weight.
ii. Discrete Variables: those variables which are not
capable of being measured in any arbitrary degree of
fineness or exactness because the variables contain a
clear gap. Can assign values such as 0,1,2,3, etc. obtained
by counting (how many). Can have the finite number of
values and the values cannot be subdivided meaningfully.
Examples: number of children, number of credit cards,
number of students, numbers of books, etc.
b. Qualitative Variables: also known as categorical variables. It
allows for classification of individuals based on some attribute
or characteristics. It includes numerical values for which
arithmetic operations do not make sense. Deals with
descriptions, varies in kind, can be observed but not measured.
Measured on nominal or ordinal measurement scales.
Categorical variables are further divided into three categories,
i. Constant Variables: has only one category: example:
fire, water, tree, taxi etc.
ii. Dichotomous Variables: has two categories. Examples:
yes/no, male/female, good/bad.
iii. Polytomous Variables: has more than two categories:
example: attitude(strongly favorable, favorable,
uncertain, unfavorable, strongly unfavorable), city,
colors, political parties etc….
