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Variables in Research - 1,2 and 3-2

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19 views16 pages

Variables in Research - 1,2 and 3-2

Uploaded by

saachinahata
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Variables in research - 1,2 and 3

VARIABLES

• Variable is a concept that varies. It can be in


Quantity, Intensity, Amount and Types.

• It takes more than one value.

• Variable is a measurable characteristic that


varies. It may change from group to group, person
to person or within person over time.

• In research science, variable refer to factor or


condition that can change during the course of an
experiment.

• Therefore, variable is anything that may assume


different numerical and categorical values.

• Eg. - Age, Income, Height, Gender, Marital


status etc
• Gender is a variable it can take certain values:-
Male and Female.

• It may change from group to group, person to


person or within person over time.

TYPES OF VARIABLES

• Independent variable
• Dependent variable
• Moderator variable
• Intervening variable
• Control variable
• Extraneous variable

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

● Dependent variable is also known as


‘Responding variable’.

● It depends on the values that result from the


Independent variables.
● The Dependent variable is what is affected by
the Independent variables.

● The Dependent variable : it depends upon


some factor that the researcher controls. For
example:- 1. How well you perform in a race
depends on your Training.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

• Independent variable is also known as


Manipulated variable’.

• The Independent variable is the condition that


researchers change in experiment. It is
the variable controlled by the researcher.

• It is called independent because its value isn't


affected by the other variable.

• There can be only one Independent variable in


an experiment & it produces one or more results
known as Dependent variables. For example:- 1.
How well you perform in a race depends on your
Training.

MODERATING VARIABLE

Moderating variable is one that has a strong


contingent effect on the Independent &
Dependent variable relationship. That is, the
presence of a third variable (the moderating
variable).

For example:- If X is the predictor & Y is an


outcome variable then Z is the Moderating
variable that affects the casual relationship of X &
Y.

Example :-

Hours of study / Sales (Independent variable)

Exam score / Profit (Dependent variable)

IQ / Advertisements (Moderating variables)


INTERVENING VARIABLE

• Intervening variable is a variable whose


Existence is inferred but it can’t be measured and
manipulated.

• It is caused by the independent variable and is


itself a cause of the dependent variable.

Higher education typically leads to higher income

• Higher education – (independent variable)


• Higher income – (dependent variable)
• Better occupation – (intervening variable)

It is causally affected by education and itself


affects income.

CONTROLLED VARIABLE

• controlled variable is the factor that is kept


constant (unchanged) all throughout the
experiment in order to test the relative relationship
of the independent and dependent variables.

• There are many controlled variables in an


experiment. It strongly influences experimental
results. For example:- q. if we are testing to
see how the amount of light received affects plant
growth: 1. In a plant growth experiment, water and
fertilizer levels are constant.

EXTRANEOUS VARIABLE

• It is also called “Confounding variables”

• Extraneous variables are factors in the research


which may have an effect on the Dependent
variables but which are not controlled.

• In other words, these are all variable, which are


not the Independent variable, but could affect the
result of the experiment.
• They are things that influence the result, and are
a source of Error. For instance, if we are testing
the influence of temp. On plant growth, we want to
make sure that soil type and amount of water
given are constant; otherwise, they are
extraneous variables.

EXTRANEOUS VARIABLE

• For example, if a researcher is interested to


study the influence of emotion (independent
variable) on short-term memory (dependent
variable), any other variable that researcher
suspect influences memory, and that he cannot
really control is considered an extraneous
variable. It could be personality traits,
environmental conditions, use of drugs

VARIABLES BASED ON SCALE

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE VARIABLES


• Quantitative variables are ones that exist along a
continuum that runs from low to high. Interval, and
ratio variables are quantitative.

• Quantitative variables are sometimes called


continuous variables because they have a variety
(continuum) of characteristics.

• Height in inches and scores on a test are


examples of quantitative variables.

• Qualitative variables do not express differences


in amount, only differences.

• They are sometimes referred to as categorical


variables because they classify by categories.
Ordinal, Nominal variables are qualitative

• Nominal variables such as gender, religion, or


eye color are categorical variables. Generally
speaking, categorical variables

NOMINAL SCALE
• Nominal Scale, also called the categorical
variable scale, is defined as a scale used
for labeling variables into distinct classifications
and doesn’t involve a quantitative value or order.

• This scale is the simplest of the four variable


measurement scales.

• Nominal data has no order

• One cannot perform arithmetic (+, -, /, *) or


logical operations (>, <, =) on the nominal data.

NOMINAL SCALE EXAMPLES

• Gender : M- Male, F- Female

• Place of residence : 1- Suburbs 2- City 3- Town

• Marital Status: Married – 1; Unmarried – 2 &


Divorcee – 3
ORDINAL SCALE

• Ordinal Scale is defined as a variable


measurement scale used to simply depict the
order of variables(what’s important and
significant) and not the difference between each
of the variables(differences between each one is
not really known)

• Ordinal data has order but the intervals between


scale points may be uneven.

• Because of lack of equal distances, arithmetic


operations are impossible, but logical operations
can be performed on the ordinal data.

• Ordinal scales are typically measures of non-


numeric concepts like satisfaction, happiness,
discomfort, etc.

ORDINAL SCALE

• Socio-economic status of families.


• Lower Income
• Lower Middle Income
• Upper Middle Income
• Upper Income

• We know 'upper middle income' is higher than


‘lower middle income' but we cannot say 'how
much higher'.

INTERVAL SCALE

Interval Scale is defined as a numerical scale


where the order of the variables is known as well
as the difference between these variables.

Variables which have familiar, constant and


computable differences are classified using the
Interval scale.

It offers a calculation of the difference between


variables. The main characteristic of this scale is
the equidistant difference between objects
• In statistics, interval scale is frequently used as a
numerical value can not only be assigned to
variables but calculation on the basis of those
values can also be carried out.

• Calendar years and time also fall under this


category of measurement scales.

• Likert scale is the most-used interval scale


examples

INTERVAL SCALE

Let us consider a variable such as monthly


income that is measured in rupees, of three
businessmen who make

• Rs. 10,0000
• Rs. 15,0000 and
• Rs. 20,0000

RATIO SCALE
Ratio Scale is defined as a variable measurement
scale that not only produces the order of variables
but also makes the difference between variables
known along with information on the value of true
zero.

It is calculated by assuming that the variables


have an option for zero, the difference between
the two variables is the same and there is a
specific order between the options.

In addition to the fact that the ratio scale does


everything that a nominal, ordinal and interval
scale can do, it can also establish the value of
absolute zero.

Examples : The following questions fall under the


Ratio Scale category:

• Let’s say respondents were being surveyed


about their Happiness levels on a scale of 0-10.
• A respondent with a Happiness level of 10
should have twice the Happiness experienced as
a respondent who selected a Happiness level of
5.

• Age, height, and weight are also good examples


of ratio variables.

ENDOGENOUS VARIABLE

An endogenous variable is a factor in a causal


model whose value is determined by the states of
other variables in the system

Variable in a statistical model that's changed or


determined by its relationship with other variables
within the model.

Endogenous variables are important in economic


modeling because they show whether a variable
causes a particular effect.

EXAMPLE
Lets study crop yield as a function of - labor, seed,
irrigation, fertilizers and pests.

Now as we alter these variables the crop yield will


also vary and that is what we are interested in.

However, there could be causal relations among


some of the independent variables.

For example, the level of pest infestation could be


influenced by irrigation or labor.

Therefore pest infestation in this case is an


endogenous variable

EXOGENOUS VARIABLE

Exogenous Variable is a factor in a causal model


whose value is independent of the other variables
in the system
A factor whose value is determined by factors or
variables outside the model under study.

For example, considering rainfall in the earlier


example is an exogenous variable in the context
of the model constituting the process of farming
and crop yield.

Endogenous variables are important in


econometrics and economic modeling because
they show whether a variable causes a particular
effect

Economists also include independent variables to


help determine to which extent a result can be
attributed to an exogenous or endogenous
cause.

Outside of economics, other fields use models


with endogenous variables including meteorology
and agriculture.

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