What I Need to Know

Variables play a significant role in quantitative research. When you intend to

accomplish something through research, the boundaries of your goal must
be defined first to direct your focus into a specific characteristic or condition
through identifying the variables of your research study. Doing such
eliminates complexities and elaborate work especially for a senior high
school student like you. Knowing the different kinds of research variables
also aids in smooth data collection and analysis.

What Is It

To get an answer to an inquiry that they are investigating, researchers will

observe and measure the quality or quantity of the object of the study. It is
therefore imperative for the researcher to identify the variables significant in
explaining observed effects or behavior.

A Variable is anything that has a quantity or quality that varies. For

instance, during the quarantine period, your mother planted tomato
seedlings in pots. Now common understanding from science tells you that
several factors are affecting the growth of tomatoes: sunlight, water, kind of
soil, and nutrients in soil. How fast the tomato seedlings will grow and bear
fruits will depend on these factors. The growth of tomatoes and the number
of fruits produced are examples of the Dependent Variables. The amount
of sunlight, water, and nutrients in the soil are the Independent Variables.
If there is an existing relationship between the independent and dependent
variables, then the value of the dependent variable varies in response to the
manipulation done on the independent variable. The independent variable is
also identified as the presumed cause while the dependent variable is the
presumed effect. In an experimental quantitative design, the independent
variable is pre-defined and manipulated by the researcher while the
dependent variable is observed and measured. For descriptive, correlational,
and ex post facto quantitative research designs, independent and dependent
variables simply do not apply.
It is important to note other factors that may influence the outcome
(dependent variable) not manipulated or pre-defined by the researcher.
These factors are called Extraneous Variables. In our example above, the
presence of pests and environmental stressors (e.g. pets, extreme weather)
are the extraneous variables. Since extraneous variables may affect the
result of the experiment, it is crucial for the researcher to identify them prior
to conducting the experiment and control them in such a way that they do
not threaten the internal validity (i.e. accurate conclusion) of the result.
Controlling the extraneous variable can be done by holding it constant or
distribute its effect across the treatment. When the researcher fails to control
the extraneous variable that it caused considerable effect to the outcome,
the extraneous variable becomes a Confounding Variable. For example, if
the tomato had been infested by pests (confounding variable) then you
cannot conclude that manipulations in sunlight, water, and soil nutrients
(independent variable) are the only contributing factors for the stunted
growth and poor yield (dependent variable) of the plant or is it the result of
both the independent variables and the confounding variable.

The variables can also be classified according to their nature. The diagram
below shows the different classifications:

I. Quantitative Variables, also called numerical variables, are the type of

variables used in quantitative research because they are numeric and can be
measured. Under this category are discrete and continuous variables.

A. Discrete variables are countable whole numbers. It does not take

negative values or values between fixed points. For example: number of
students in a class, group size and frequency.
 B. Continuous variables take fractional (non-whole number) values
that can either be a positive or a negative. Example: height, temperature.

Numerical data have two levels of measurement, namely:

A. Intervals are quantitative variables where the interval or

differences between consecutive values are equal and meaningful, but the
numbers are arbitrary. For example, the difference between 36 degrees and
37 degrees is the same as between 100 degrees and 101 degrees. The zero
point does not suggest the absence of a property being measured.
Temperature at 0 degree Celsius is assigned as the melting point of ice.
Other examples of interval data would be year and IQ score.

B. Ratio type of data is similar to interval. The only difference is the

presence of a true zero value. The zero point in this scale indicates the
absence of the quantity being measured. Examples are age, height, weight,
and distance.

II. Qualitative Variables also referred to as Categorical Variables are not

expressed in numbers but are descriptions or categories. It can be further
divided into dichotomous, nominal or ordinal.

A. Dichotomous variable consists of only two distinct categories or values,

for example, a response to a question either be a yes or no.

B. Nominal variable simply defines groups of subjects. In here, you may

have more than 2 categories of equivalent magnitude. For example, a
basketball player’s number is used to distinguish him from other players. It
certainly does not follow that player 10 is better than player 8. Other
examples are blood type, hair color and mode of transportation.

C. Ordinal variable, from the name itself, denotes that a variable is

ranked in a certain order. This variable can have a qualitative or quantitative
attribute. For example, a survey questionnaire may have a numerical rating
as choices like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5ranked accordingly (5=highest, 1=lowest) or
categorical rating like strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly
disagree. Other examples or ordinal variable: cancer stage (Stage I, Stage II,
Stage III), Spotify Top 20 hits, academic honors (with highest, with high, with
honors).
Activity 2: Identifying variables
 Directions: Identify the Independent, Dependent and Extraneous variable/s in each of
the following situations.
1. Three groups of students were placed in a classroom with controlled room
temperatures of 18°C, 20°C, 25°C. The math exam scores of the students were then taken and
compared to the other groups.

Independent variable: ____________________________________________________

Dependent variable: ______________________________________________________
Extraneous variable: _____________________________________________________
2. An online seller would like to know whether the indication of price on Facebook posts
will attract consumers more. He posted 50 products for sale on Facebook market, 25 of which
he indicated the price while the remaining 25 products, did not have prices. Buyers were just
instructed to send him a personal message (pm) if they want to know the price. He then
identified which products have greater sales.

Independent variable: ____________________________________________________

Dependent variable: ______________________________________________________
Extraneous variable: _____________________________________________________

3. A housewife wanted to know which soil is best for her pechay plants: the
soil purchased from an online seller, soil from her backyard compost or the
soil underneath the nearby bamboo tree. She planted 30 pechay seeds into
each soil source and then compared the growth of pechay after a month.
Independent variable: ____________________________________________________
Dependent variable: ______________________________________________________
Extraneous variable: _____________________________________________________

4. Jenny is only borrowing the cellphone chargers of her brother, sister and
mother because she lost her phone charger. All chargers are of the same
specifications as hers even though they have different phone brands.
However, she would like to know which charger and charging cable
combination would fill her phone battery the fastest. She used the following
codes as her reference and charged her phone uninterrupted using the
following combination. The charging time of the phone was then compared.

Independent variable: ____________________________________________________

Dependent variable: ______________________________________________________
Extraneous variable: _____________________________________________________
5. A teacher wanted to know which learning delivery modes (pure online,
pure modular, combination of online and modular) is most effective and has
the fastest turnaround time in the submission of accomplished activities
among her Grade 12 students. She divided the students into 3 groups, gave
them the same activity sheets and asked them to submit as soon as it is
completed. She then compared the scores and completion time of the 3
groups.

Independent variable: ____________________________________________________

Dependent variable: ______________________________________________________
Extraneous variable: _____________________________________________________