Kinds of Variables and Their Uses

KINDS OF VARIABLES AND
THEIR USES
VARIABLE
Any characteristic which is subject to
change and can have more than one
value such as agd, intelligence,
motivation, gender, etc.
The variable agreement might be
defined as having 5 attributes:
1.Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
3. Neutral
4. Agree
5. Strongly agree
The Nature of
Variables and Data
NOMINAL/CATEGORICAL VARIABLE
• They can be measured only in terms of whether the
individual items belong to certain distinct categories
• We cannot quantity or even rank/ order the
categories:
• Nominal data has no order
• One connot perform arithmetic (+, -, /, *) or logical
operations (>, <, =) on the nominal data
Example
ORDINAL VARIABLES
Represent categories that can
be ordered from greatest to
smallest.
Examples of ordinal variables
include education level
(freshmen, sophomore, Grade
XI, Grade XII), income brackets,
etc.
INTERVAL VARIABLE
• Interval variables hava a numerical value
• These have order and equal intervals.
• They are not only to rank order the items
that are measured but also to quantify and
compare the magnitude of difference
between them.
Example
RATIO VARIABLE
A ratio variable is similar to an

interval variable with one
difference: the ratio make
sense.
Example
KINDS OF VARIABLES
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
• Those that probably cause, influence, or
affect outcomes.
• They are invariably called treatment,

manipulated, antecedent or predictor
variables.
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
• Those that depend on the independent

variables
• They are the outcomes or result of the
influence of the independent variable
Example 1
Example 2
Other names for dependent and independent
variables
Intervening or mediating variables
• "stands between" the independent and

dependent variables, and they show the
effects of the independent variable on the
dependent variable
Example
Control/Constant variable
• It is variable that is NOT allowed to be changed
unpredictably during an experiment.
• As they are ideally expected to remain the

same, they are also called constant variables.
Example
When investigating to he effect of the number of
batteries on the current in a circuit, the control
variables would be:
 Size of the batteries

 Thickness and type of the wire
 Length of wire
 Number and type of components in the circuit
Confounding variables
• A confounding variable is an outside influence
that changes the effect of a dependent and
independent variable.
• Confounding variables can ruin an experiment

and produce useless results.
Example
A mother's education
Suppose a study is done to reveal whether bottle-

feeding is related to an increase of diarrhea in infants. It
would appear logical that the bottle-fed infants are
more prone to diarrhea since water and bottles could
easily get contaminated, or the milk could go bad.
Patrick Regoniel advances these
examples of variables:
Phenomenon A: climate change
Examples of variables related to climate change:
1. Sea level
2. Temperature
3. The amount of carbon emission
4. The amount of rainfall
Phenomenon B: Crime and violence in the streets
Examples of variables related to crime and violence:
1. number of robberies
2. number of attempted murders
3. number of prisoners
4. number of crime victims
5. number of laws enforcers
6. number of convictions
7. number of car napping incidents
Phenomenon C: poor performance of students in college entrance
exams
Examples of variables related to poor academic performance:
1. entrance exam score

2. number of hours devoted to studying
3. student-teacher ratio
4. number of students in the class
5. educational attainment of teachers
6. teaching style
7. the distance of school from home
8. number of hours devoted by parents in providing tutorial
support
What Is the Difference Between
Independent and Dependent Variables?
 An independent variable is the variable that is
changed or controlled in a scientific
experiment to test the effects on the
dependent variable.
 A dependent variable is the variable being tested
and measured in a scientific experiment.
For example:
in the first phenomenon of climate change,
temperature (independent variable) may
influence sea level (dependent variable).
Increased temperature will cause
expansion of water in the sea. Thus, sea
level rise on a global scale may occur.
In the second phenomenon, crime and
violence in the streets, the independent
variable may be the number of law
enforcers and the dependent variable is
the number of robberies.
Traits of Variables
Exhaustive - it should include all
possible answerable responses.
Mutually exclusive - no respondent
should be able to have two attributes
simultaneously.

Kinds of Variables and Their Uses

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Kinds of Variables and Their Uses

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Kinds of Variables and Their Uses

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

KINDS OF VARIABLES AND

A ratio variable is similar to an

• They are invariably called treatment,

• Those that depend on the independent

• "stands between" the independent and

• As they are ideally expected to remain the

 Size of the batteries

• Confounding variables can ruin an experiment

Suppose a study is done to reveal whether bottle-

1. entrance exam score

You might also like