Module1
Republic of the Philippines Lesson 5
Department of Education
Region x-Northern Mindanao
Santa Monica Institute of Technology
PR Andrada Building Cabili Avenue Iligan City
AC Practical Research 2
Senior High School
2nd Semester of A.Y. 2020-2021
TI Introduction
CA Nature of Inquiry and Research
There are many things you want to know in this world. People, things, places, events—
L their characteristics or qualities make you wonder continuously, frequently, or
intermittently. Marveling at them, you tend to immerse yourself in a situation where you
RE seem to be grappling with a problem or a puzzle. Questions after questions on the many
aspects of the object of your curiosity prod you to move, act, or do something to find
SE answers to your questions or to discover truths about your inferences or speculations on
such object. Behaving like an investigator, asking and seeking answers to some questions
AR about the thing you find puzzling indicates the true nature of inquiry or research.
CH Intended Learning Outcomes
After studying this unit the students are expected to be able to:
2 1. widen your vocabulary in English;
2. express your perceptions using the newly learned words;
MO 3. define variables;
4. characterize variables;
5. compare and contrast types of variables;
DU 6. distinguish independent variables from dependent variables; and
7. determine the connection between variables and research problems.
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Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Region x-Northern Mindanao
Santa Monica Institute of Technology
Andrada Building Cabili Avenue Iligan City
Module 1
Lesson 5
#1
Name:_____________________________________________________________________
PR Activity
AC Directions: Imagine that you own a business company. In the space provided, create
a poster or an advertisement to promote the product of your company. Provide
TI your work with a caption that uses the words you have newly learned.
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Discussion
VARIABLES
Definition
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. For instance, as years go by, your age or intelligence increases.
PR But placed in a situation where you are afflicted with a disease or have no means of
reading or no access to any sources of knowledge, your intelligence tend to decrease.
(Suter 2013, p. 137)
AC In research, especially in a quantitative research, one important thing you have to
focus on at the start of your study is to determine the variables involved in your study.
Unless you spend some time pondering on variables in your research, your work has
TI no chance of attaining its goal. Your research problem or research topic to which you
devote much of your initial research time finalizing stands great, if it has wordings on
the basic variables involved in your study.
CA Basic Types
L Basically, variables are of two types: independent variables and dependent variables.
Independent variables are those that cause changes in the subject, while dependent
variables are those that bear or manifest the effects caused by the independent
RE variables. Hence, in a causal relationship, the cause comes from the independent
variables; the effects, on the dependent variables.
SE In an experimental research, the independent variable as the condition or treatment
applied to the experimental group is under the control, direction, or manipulation
of the researcher or experimenter. For instance, to determine the positive effects
AR of one modern grammar theory called SFG (Systemic Functional Grammar) on IC
(Intercultural Competence), you apply this theory in varied ways like realizing this in
a collaborative, oral, or written activity. In this case, the SFG serves as the independent
CH variable and the IC as the dependent variable.
Variable Relationships
2 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
MO is the cause; the second, the effect that you can subject to any form of measurement.
However, as you carry out the research, itis possible that one, two, or more variables or
extra variables crop up to create an impact on the relationship between the independent
DU and dependent variables. Being extra variables, they form this other type of variables
called extraneous variables.
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For example, in the case of SFG vs. IC, (the first as the independent variable; the
second as the dependent variable) 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. Dealing with these types of variables gives you difficulty in determining
the real cause of changes in the dependent variables; that is, whether it is due only
PR to the independent variable or to the combination between the confounding and the
independent variables. The involvement of confounding variables in the research
results in the production of “mixed up, confusing, or bewildering results.” Involved
AC 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).
TI There are other types of variables which are as follows (Russell 2013; Babbie 2013):
1. Constant – do not undergo any changes during an experiment
CA 2. Attribute – characteristics of people: intelligence, creativity, anxiety, learning
styles, etc.
3. Covariate – included in the research study to create interactions with the
L independent and dependent variables
4. Continuous – quantitative in nature and is used in interval or ratio scale of
measurement
RE 5. Dichotomous – has only two possible results: one or zero
6. Latent – cannot be directly observed like personality traits
7. Manifest – can be directly observed to give proofs to latent variables
SE 8. Exogenous – found outside an identified model
9. Endogenous – found inside; as a part of identified model
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LE Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Region x-Northern Mindanao
Santa Monica Institute of Technology
Andrada Building Cabili Avenue Iligan City
Module 1
Lesson 5
#2
Name:___________________________________________________________________________
STAPLE THE PAPER WHICH NUMBERED FROM #1,#2,
Directions: INDIVIDUAL WORK. Keeping in mind the meaning of variables in
research, check all words in the list that can operate as variables in any research
study.
PR __ water
__ skills
__ ghost
__ voice
__ ghost
__ handwriting
__ academic grades
__ aspirations
__ textbooks
AC __ experience __ guardian angel __ academic grades
__ world
__ dreams
__ life plans
__ class size
__ economic status
__ mental pictures
TI __ reading comprehension __ physical exercise
Directions: Write C if the sentence is correct; W, if not.
CA _______ 1. The experimenter relates himself/herself with the independent
variable.
L _______ 2. Extraneous variables are nuisance variables.32 • PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2
_______ 3. Extraneous variables are as significant as independent variables.
_______ 4. All variables are prone to changes or variations.
RE _______ 5. All variables are controllable.
_______ 6. The effects of something on dependent variables are measurable.
_______ 7. Only words can express the effects of variables on dependent
SE variables.
_______ 8. The effects of something can be shown through fractions and
percentages.
AR _______ 9. It is wrong to expose the variables to changeable factors.
_______ 10. Attribute variables have the same meaning as participants’
variables.
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DU Resources
LE Argyrous, G. 2011. Statistics for research. Los Angeles: Sage.
Badke, W. B. 2012. Teaching research process: The faculty’s role in the development of skilled
student researchers. New Delhi: CP Chados Publishing.
Babbie, E. 2014. The basics of social research. 6th ed. USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Bernard, R. 2013. Social research method: Qualitative and quantitative approach. Los
Angeles: Sage.
Burns, A. and Bush, R. 2012. Basic research methods. 3rd ed. New York: Pearson.
Canavor, N. and Meirowitz, C. 2010. The truth about the new rules of business writing that
you mean. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Clow, K. and James, K. 2014. Essentials of marketing research: Putting research into practice.
Los Angeles: Sage.
Coghan, D. and Branneick, T. 2014. Doing action research in your own organization. 4th
ed. Los Angeles: Sage.
Corti, L. et al. 2014. Managing and sharing research data: A guide to good practice.
Los Angeles: Sage.
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