(Concepts to Remember)

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 • A concept that stands for variation within a class of objects.
• A condition or characteristic that can take on different categories or
values which, may be numerical in nature.

Examples:
• age
• gender

(Baraceros, 2016; Faltado, et al, 206; Johnson, and Christensen, 2014; Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 • The opposite of variable.
• It does NOT vary; it has a single value or category.
• Do not undergo any changes during an experiment

(Baraceros, 2016; Johnson, and Christensen, 2014 ; Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 Examples:
• The variable gender is a marker for two constants: male and
female.
• The value 13 years old is a constant of the variable age.

(Baraceros, 2016; Johnson, and Christensen, 2014 ; Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 Variables may be categorized as

Quantitative Categorical
Variables Variables

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 • Variable that varies in degree (rather than all or none) along a
continuum from less to more; or amount by assigning numbers
to objects to indicate how much of the variable the possess.
• It usually involves numbers.

(Johnson, and Christensen, 2014; Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 Example:
• age
• annual income
• height
• weight

(Johnson, and Christensen, 2014; Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 Example:
• Numbers can also be assigned to traits, such as interest. Numbers
can be assigned like so:
5 = very interested
4 = interested
3 = somewhat interested
2 = with little interest
1 = with very little interest
0 = not interested
(Fraenkel, et al, 2012)
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 (Fraenkel, et al, 2012)
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 • Do not vary in degree, amount, or quantity, but are
qualitatively different.
• Variable that varies by type or kind.
• It usually involves different groups.

(Johnson, and Christensen, 2014; Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 Examples:
• gender
• religion
• blood type

(Faltado, et al, 2016; Johnson, and Christensen, 2014; Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 (Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 Variables may be categorized as

Quantitative Variables Categorical Variables

Discrete Variables

Continuous Variables

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 Continuous Variable
– it can have any value within certain limits
– it can take all possible values within a specified range
– a variable that may take on an infinite number of real values
within a given interval

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 Discrete Variable
– it is possible to make a collection of separate numbers
– typically, it is a count
– a quantitative variable that has no values in between two given
values

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 Variables may be classified as

Independent Dependent
Variables Variables
(IV) (DV)

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 • A variable that is presumed to cause a change in or affect
another variable.
• It is sometimes manipulated by the researcher (i.e., the
researcher determines the value of the independent variable).

(Baraceros, 2016; Johnson, and Christensen, 2014; Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 • Sometimes, it is studied by the researcher but is NOT directly
manipulated (i.e., the researcher studies what happens when
an independent variable changes naturally.)
• It is an antecedent variable because it must come before
another variable if it is to produce change in it.

(Baraceros, 2016; Johnson, and Christensen, 2014; Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 • A variable that is presumed to be influenced by one or more
independent variables
• It is the variable that is “dependent on” the independent
variable(s).
• It “depends on” what the independent variable does to it, how
it affects it

(Baraceros, 2016; Johnson, and Christensen, 2014; Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 (Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 A research on the relationship between childhood success in
mathematics and adult career choice.

IV = childhood success in mathematics

DV = adult career choice

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 Based on the research titles, identify the IV(s) and DV(s) in the
study.
IVs
The Effects of Parental Reading Socialization and Early School
Involvement on Children’s Academic Performance: A Panel Study
of Primary School Pupils in Netherlands

DV
(Almeida, et al, 2016)
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 Based on the research titles, identify the IV(s) and DV(s) in the
study.
IV
Training on Kumon and its Effects on the Math Performance of
Elementary Pupils DV

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 Independent Variables
may be classified as

Manipulated Selected
Independent Independent
Variables Variables

(Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 • It is the independent variable that the researcher creates.
• It is typically found in experimental studies.
• Also called experimental variables, or treatment variables

(Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 Example: An investigation on the effect of different amounts of
reinforcement on reading achievement.

Method used: Students were systematically assigned into three

different groups.

(Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 Group 1 – praised continuously everyday during reading session
Group 2 – simply told to “keep up the good work”
Group 3 – received no reinforcement

Since the researcher manipulated the conditions in the

experiment, s/he created the variable amount of reinforcement

(Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 • Some researchers select an IV that already exists. In this case,
s/he must locate and select examples of it, rather that creating
it
• These are not limited to studies that compare different
treatments; they are found in both causal-comparative and
correlational studies
• These can be either categorical or quantitative

(Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 Example: An investigation on the effect of
different amounts of reinforcement on reading
achievement.

Method used: The researcher located existing

examples of each reading method, rather than
arranging for them to happen.

(Fraenkel, et al, 2012)

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 In quantitative research, it is necessary to describe
observations about the variable of interest in a
compact manner, such as a single number or a short
label.

The data to be used for analysis will be the

compilation of gathered numbers or labels from
respondents or subjects included in the study.

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 Using numbers to describe observations allows
researchers to extract additional information from the
data because:
• mathematical operations can be applied to the data;
• data can be arranged according to magnitude; or
• group together numbers that are equal to each other

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 Example:
Variable of interest: Age
• the number of years a person has been living since
birth can be used to describe his/her age
• persons’ ages can be compared
• persons‘ ages can be arranged

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 Example:
Variable of interest: Economic class
• can be described using labels: AB, C, D, and E

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 It is the process of determining the value or label of the variable
based on what has been observed.

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 The variable of interest can be measured in
various ways depending on the researcher’s
objectives.

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 Example: Educational Level
Using the International Standard Classification of
Education designed by UNESCO

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
pre-primary primary lower upper postsecondary 1st stage 2nd stage
secondary secondary nontertiary tertiary tertiary

(Almeda, Capistrano, and Sarte, 2010)

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 Example: Educational Level
Using more details

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
nursery/ Grade Grade Grade JHS SHS 1st – 2nd 3rd – 4th 5th or Master’s PhD
kinder 1-2 3-4 5-6 Year Year upper Degree
College College College

By counting the number of levels completed

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 The general classification used to describe the types of
relationship among the values or categories of variables.

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 • This will help researchers in the interpretation of the
value that the variable takes on.
• This will help researchers decide on the appropriate
statistical technique to be used in analyzing their
collected data.

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 • Researchers would know the proper mathematical
treatment that can be applied on the measurements
that make up their data.

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 • Nominal
• Ordinal
• Interval
• Ratio

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 • It is the strongest level of measurement
• Performing any arithmetic operation on collected data
on a variable measured using this level is possible
• It has the following properties

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 a. the numbers in the system are used to classify a
person/object into distinct, nonoverlapping, and
exhaustive categories;
b. the system arranges the categories according to
magnitude;

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 c. the system has a fixed unit of measurement
representing a set size throughout the scale; and
d. the system has an absolute zero

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 • It satisfies only the first three properties of the ratio level
• The zero point in this level is NOT an absolute zero
• The zero value in this scale has an arbitrary interpretation and
does not mean the absence of the property we are measuring

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 • The levels of measurement are NOT used to classify variables;
but to classify the system or scale used to measure the
variable.
• In identifying the level of measurement, it is important to
understand the measurement system or the scale used in
assigning values to the different categories of the variable.

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 Examples:
Temperature in ⁰F – Interval level
Because it does not have an absolute zero

Temperature in Kelvin – Ratio level

Because it has a true zero point such that 0 K is the point at
which all motion in matter stops – it represents the absence of
thermodynamic temperature
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 • It satisfies only the first two properties of the ratio level
• A fixed unit of measure is NOT used throughout the scale
inhibiting researchers from interpreting the differences
between numbers

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 Examples:
a. Performance rating: 1 = excellent; 2 = very good; 3 = good; 4 =
satisfactory; 5 = poor
b. Faculty rank: 1 = Professor; 2 = Associate Professor; 3 = Assistant
Professor; 4 = Instructor
c. Student rank: 1st, 2nd, 3rd

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 • The distance between categories or observed values
cannot be interpreted
• Because of this, arithmetic operations cannot be
performed on collected data on a variable measured
using this level of measurement

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 • It satisfies only the first property of the ratio level
• The weakest level of measurement because symbols or
numbers are only used solely for classifying subjects into two
or more categories
• The magnitudes of the numbers and the difference between
numbers have no meaning
• There is no absolute zero point

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 SUMMARY
LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT

https://latrobe.libguides.com/maths/statistics
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