Variables in Quantitative Research

Why is there a
need to
understand
the different
variables in
research?

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1. How do you think our body changes when we eat
nutritious food and exercise regularly?
2. What do you think causes our body to become
unhealthy?

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 Variables in Quantitative Research

Variables is any element or entity which

can be measured for quantity or quality. A
variable may be a person, thing, place,
situation, or phenomenon. When
conducting a quantitative study, you
are expected to measure or fugure out the
relationship between your variables.
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 Variables in Quantitative Research

You may also manipulate or control

these variables, depending on the kind of
research you are conducting.

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Different Variables can be categorized
Types of
Variables depending on the level of
measurement and role.

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Why is it
important to
understand
the roles of
variables in
research?

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 Independent and
Dependent Variables

Roles of The independent variable,

Variables also called causal variable, is
presumed to cause the
change towards another
variable, which is known as the
dependent variable or the
outcome variable. 9
The independent variable may influence
another variable to change. In
experimental research, independent
variables may also be manipulated to
examine the specific effect they may have
toward the dependent variable.

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The dependent variables are the
variables that are influenced by the
independent variables.

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Example:

1. A researcher is determining the effects of self-

motivation on the productivity of employees.
Independent variable: _____________________
Dependent variable: _________________________

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Example:

1. A researcher is determining the effects of self-

motivation on the productivity of employees.
Independent variable: Self-motivation
Dependent variable: Productivity of employees

How do you think self-motivation can have an effect

on employee productivity?

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Example:

2. A researcher is trying to determine the

effectiveness of
different coaching styles on volleyball teams.
Independent Variable: _____________________
Dependent Variable: _______________________

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Example:

2. A researcher is trying to determine the

effectiveness of
different coaching styles on volleyball teams.
Independent Variable: Coaching styles
Dependent Variable: Win streak

How do you think the different coaching styles affect

the win streak of volleyball teams?

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Example:
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Independent Variable: _____________________

Dependent Variable: _______________________
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Example:
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Independent Variable: (Dietary supplement: None,

blueberry, strawberry and spinach)
Dependent Variable: (Memory test and motor skills test)
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Mediating Variables

Mediating variables are also

known as “intervening
variables” since they intervene
between the independent and
dependent variables to show
their connection.
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Example

A researcher wants to know the effects of working

seven days a week on the employee’s productivity
level.
Independent variable: ____________________
Dependent variable: ______________________
Mediating variable: _______________________

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 Example
A researcher wants to know the effects of working
seven days a week on the employee’s productivity
level.
Independent variable: Seven-day work week
Dependent variable: Productivity level
Mediating variable: Job satisfaction

What do you think makes job satisfaction the

mediating variable?
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A mediating variable may act as
a dependent variable and
independent variable at the same
time.

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Moderating
Variables
Moderating variables are
variables that have a strong
conditioned effect, which may
modify the relationship between
the independent and dependent
variables.
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Example

A researcher wants to know the effects of

exercising regularly on one’s weight loss.
Independent variable: _________________
Dependent variable: ___________________
Moderating variable: ___________________

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 Example

A researcher wants to know the effects of

exercising regularly on one’s weight loss.
Independent variable: Regular exercise
Dependent variable: Weight loss
Moderating variable: Gender

What do you think makes gender a moderating

variable?
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A mediating variable should act as a
dependent variable with respect to the
independent variable and may also cause
change/s to the dependent variable, while
a moderating variable must not be
directly affected by the independent
variable and should not result to it in any
way.

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Extraneous Variables

Extraneous variables are variables

that should be mainly excluded from the
research study as they may interfere
and compromise with the experiment
and research results.
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● Extraneous variables are variables
that are not categorized as dependent
nor independent variable in a study.

● It is an undesired variable that can

influence the results of an experiment.

● By knowing the extraneous variables,

you will be able to lessen their adverse
effects on your study.
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Example

A researcher wants to know the effect of how poor

garbage disposal can have an impact on pollution.
Independent variable: _____________________
Dependent variable: _______________________
Extraneous variables: ______________________

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 Example
A researcher wants to know the effect of how poor
garbage disposal can have an impact on pollution.
Independent variable: Poor garbage disposal
Dependent variable: Pollution
Extraneous variables: Environmental factors;
people

What makes the variables environmental factors

and people extraneous?
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Ex. The experiment about, 1.) Can a blue berries slow down aging process?
Confounding variable: Intelligence level
2.) Effect of video lesson/discussions to student’s participation.
Confounding variable: IQ level of the students
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One way of classifying variables is through
determining their nature. Based on this
classification, the two general types of
variables are the:

1. Quantitative variables and

2. Qualitative variables

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 Variables in Quantitative Research

Quantitative variables
 can be measured numerically.
 Variables used primarily in quantitative
research
 can be classified under two types:
discrete and continuous.

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 The measurement level, also
Level of called scale of measure, gives
measurement
you an idea of the type of data
you have.

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Level of measurement can be classified into two:
categorical and continuous measures of
variables.

A continuous variable (Quantitative variables) is

further categorized into:
1.) interval
2) ratio
A categorical variable (Qualitative variables) is
further categorized into:
1.) nominal
2.) ordinal
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 Variables in Quantitative Research

Both continuous and discrete

variables fall under the category of
quantitative variables.

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Discrete variables (quantitative
variable)
 that can take on a finite or countably infinite
set of values (can be counted).
 can only be denoted by positive whole
numbers and are not described in ranges.
 cannot take on fractional values within their
range.
Examples: Number of students in a class
Number or cars in a parking lot
Number of children in a household 36
 Variables in Quantitative Research
Continuous Variables (also known as
interval variables).

● are measured in ranges and can be

denoted by non-whole numbers. (with
decimal pt.)
● can have a positive or negative values
● can also be expressed as fractions.
● do not have a true zero point

Example: Temperature in Celsius, dates

on a calendar, IQ scores, 37
Interval variables have meaningful differences
between values but do not have a true zero
point

● This means that while you can add and subtract

values, you cannot meaningfully multiply or divide
them to get ratios. Here are some examples of interval
variables:

Example: Temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit:

The difference between temperatures is meaningful (e.g.,
the difference between 20°C and 30°C is the same as
between 30°C and 40°C), but there is no true zero point
because 0°C or 0°F does not represent the complete 38
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Continuous Variables:

Ratio variable
 is a special type of continuous variable.
This type of variable cannot have a
negative value.
 It has numerical value and meaning which
can also be counted, ranked, and has a
meaningful difference between values.

 There is a true zero point, which means

that nothing exists for that variable and
that zero simply means none. 39
Ratio Variable
● A true zero means there is an
absence of the variable of interest
or absence of the quantity.
● In ratio scales, zero does mean an
absolute lack of the variable.

Example: In the Kelvin temperature scale,

there are no negative degrees of
temperature – zero means an absolute lack
of thermal energy.
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Example 1: Weight: Has a true zero point
and allows for meaningful ratios (e.g., an
object weighing 20 kg is twice as heavy as
an object weighing 10 kg).

Example 2: Income: Can have a true zero

point (no income) and allows for
meaningful ratios (e.g., an income of
P50,000 is twice as much as an income of
P25,000).
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 Variables in Quantitative Research

Examples of Ratio variable: Age,

height, weight, distance, test scores,
income

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 Categorical Variables (Qualitative
variables)
● A nominal variable is any variable that
represents different types of data, which may
be divided into groups or categories. There is
no intrinsic order; hence, its frequencies can
only be counted.

The examples are race, ethnicity, and hair color,

birthplace, favorite food or hang out area, mood of the day,
mode of transportation, genotype, blood type, zip code,
gender, eye color, political party, LRN 43
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Qualitative variables
● also referred to as categorical variables
● despite lacking numerical value, these
variables can still be used in quantitative
research.
● involve assigning values to specific
categories or groups (e.g. blood type,
color)
● Categorical variables are of two (2)
types:
1.) Dichotomous
2.) Nominal 44
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 Qualitative Variables

Dichotomous Variables

● have only two (2) distinct categories or

values
● An example of this variable is the
response to a “yes/ no” questions,
true/ false questions.
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 Qualitative Variables

Nominal variables
● have more than two categories or values
● some examples of nominal variables are
hair color, marital status, blood type,
mode of transportation, source of
income, citizenship

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Ordinal Variables
● is a unique variables since it exhibit the
characteristics of both quantitative and
qualitative variables
● Ordinal variables have the values that can
be ranked or ordered.
● These values can be numerical like
quantitative variables.
● Can also be arranged into specific non-
numerical classes like qualitative
variables.
● For instance, frequency is described as rare,
seldom, sometimes, almost always or always;
● values of ratings are denoted as A+, AB+, or47
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 Categorical Variables
● An ordinal variable is any variable that
may also be divided into groups or
categories, but it has intrinsic order or
rank. Its frequencies can be both counted
and ranked in which the distance
between categories is not equivalent.
Some examples: Year of graduation, brands of bags, and food
preference, birth order/rank, grade level, teaching position, class ranking,
socio-economic status- low income, middle high income, educational level-
Elem, HS, college level, BS, MS, MAED, PhD. 48
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It is important that as researchers, we
are knowledgeable about our
variables because research mainly
revolves around them.

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 List down as many variables as you
can with the given phenomena:
Practice ● Climate change
● Political system in the Philippines
● Low customer retention

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