Research Methodology

Identifying Variables
Chapter-5

Syed Azizur Rahman, Ph.D

Associate Professor
College of Health Sciences
2024-2025
 Topics covered
• What is a variable?
• Difference between concepts and variables
• How to turn concepts into variables
• Types of variables
• Types of measurement scales

authored by Stephanie Fleischer © SAGE publications Ltd 2014

 What is a variable?
• A variable is a characteristic of a person,
object, or phenomenon that can take on
different values.
• Example: a person’s age- 20/30/80 years
– Cancer stage: stage 1, stage 2, stage 3,etc
– Weight- 10kg/30 kg/50 kg
– Distance – Miles/ KM- 2 km. 5 km/ 5 Miles
– Income – Dollar, Dirham. Real -100-200-500
 What is a variable?
• An image, perception or concept that is
measurable
– Gender (male/female)
– Blood pressure- high, medium, low
– Iron level- high, low, medium
– Protein level- High, medium, Low
• Variables take on different values often
expressed as numbers
– Age (x years, y months)
• Use of measurement scales to vary the degree
of precision (accuracy) in measurement
 Numerical vs Categorical Variables
• The values of those variables are expressed in
number we can call them Numerical Variables
– Weight , distance, income
• Values of those variables are expressed in
categories, we can call them Categorical
Variables
– Color- Red, yellow, Green, white, blue
– HTN status: Hypertensive, Normotensive
– Outcome of disease: Cure, death, chronic illness
– Marital status: Married, Un-married, divorced, etc
– Food type: rice, wheat, meat, etc or Vegetables,
fruits, meats
 Difference between concepts and variables
• Concepts cannot be measured e.g.
– Satisfaction has different meaning to different
people
– Anxiety
• Variables can be measured (e.g. persons weight in kg,
age in years, height in meters)
• Convert concepts into variables using a set of
indicators in order to subjectively measure (e.g.
effectiveness, attitude)
Concepts VS Variables
 Converting concepts into variables
How can a concept be measured? What indicators
can be identified? Convert into a measurement
• Concept: rich/poor
• Indicators: 1. Income, 2. value of assets
• Variables: 1. Total income per year, 2. Total value
of a) home, b) cars, c) investments, etc.
• Working definition for rich if 1. Income is >
200,000,
• 2. considered rich if total value of assets is
>2,000,000
authored by Stephanie Fleischer © SAGE publications Ltd 2014
 Converting concepts into variables
• Concept: Stress
• Indicators:
• 1. Heart rate,
• 2. Hand sweating,
• 3. Irritability,
• 4. Prostaglandins level
• Variables: Measure heart rate.
• Frequency of hand sweating, etc. .

• Prostaglandins are compounds in the body made of fats that have hormone-like effects.

authored by Stephanie Fleischer © SAGE publications Ltd 2014

Converting concepts into variables
Converting concepts into variables
 Figure 5.1 Types of variables

Reading Task for all to

understand each of
the variables

authored by Stephanie Fleischer © SAGE publications Ltd 2014

 Dependent and Independent Variables
• The variable that is used to describe or measure the problem
under study is called DEPENDENT Variable-
– Example: relation between “smoking and lung cancer” –
“suffering from lung cancer” – depending variables
• The variable that are used to describe or measure the factors that
are assumed to cause or at least to influence the problem are
called INDEPENDENT Variables.
– Smoking- is the independent variables
– A researcher must clearly mention in the proposal what are the
dependent and independent variables will be considered in the
study.
 Dependent, independent and confounding
Variables
Cause
Effects / outcome
Independent
Dependent variable
Variable

Other factors
Confounding factors

Confounding variable: may either strength or weaken the relationship between the problem and cause of the
problem
So to give a true picture of the cause and effect, the confounding variables must be considered
Dependent, independent and
confounding Variables
Dependent, independent and
confounding Variables

Anything that
is not the
independent
variable that
has the
potential to
affect the
results is
called an
extraneous
variable.
Extraneous Variable
 Variables from a viewpoint of causal
relationships
• Independent variable (ID) (bringing change in a
situation)
• Dependent variable (DV) (outcome or change
brought by the independent variable)
• Extraneous variable (several factors affecting the
changes in the dependent variable)
• Intervening variable (variable links independent
and dependent variable)-
• Intervening variables are hypothetical variable that
explain the relationship between ID and DV)
• They also called mediator variable

authored by Stephanie Fleischer © SAGE publications Ltd 2014

 Example: Intervening variable
• For example, there is an association between
being a smoker and having a shorter life span
• Just because someone is a smoker does not
mean he/she will die early
• Other hypothetical variables are used to
explain the phenomenon.
• These intervening variables could include
obesity, or poor nutrition.
Variables from a viewpoint of study design

• Active variables (that can be manipulated,

changed or controlled in an experiment)
• E.g. Teaching models
• Attribute variables (variables that cannot be
manipulated and that reflect the
characteristics of a study population)
• Eg. Age, gender, education and income

authored by Stephanie Fleischer © SAGE publications Ltd 2014

Active variables and Attribute variables
 Variable from the viewpoint of unit
measurement
• Categorical variable (nominal and ordinal scales)
– Constant variable (one category or value, e.g. taxi)
– Dichotomous variable (two categories, e.g. yes/no)
– Polytomous variable (more than two categories, e.g.
religion: Christian, Muslim, Hindu, etc.)
Or Continuous data (interval and ratio scales)
• Qualitative variables are like categorical
variables such as gender: male/female
Or Quantitative (interval and ratio scales)
authored by Stephanie Fleischer © SAGE publications Ltd 2014
 Type of variable

“The way a variable is measured determines

the type of analysis that can be performed, the
statistical procedures that can be applied to the
data, the way the data can be interpreted and
the finding that can be communicated.”

authored by Stephanie Fleischer © SAGE publications Ltd 2014

 Types of measurement scales
• Nominal or classificatory scale, e.g. religion:
Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, etc.
• Ordinal or ranking scale (categories in order)
e.g. socio economic status: upper/middle/low
• Interval scale (has equal units of measurements
with an arbitrary starting point) e.g.
Temperature in Fahrenheit
• Ratio scale (equal units of measurement with
fixed starting point at zero) e.g. height in cm

authored by Stephanie Fleischer © SAGE publications Ltd 2014

 Interactive questions for immediate
feedback
1. An image, perception or concept that is
capable of measurement is called__________.
A. Scale
B. Type
C. Variable
D. Hypothesis
2. Which of the following is an example of a
concept?
A. Domestic violence
B. Income in $
C. Height in cm
D. Weight in kg
3. Concepts can be converted into variables by
identifying measurement scales?
A. True
B. False
4. An Independent variable can be defined as
___________.
A. Change variable
B. Outcome/effect variable
C. Extraneous variable
D. Confounding variable
5. Dichotomous variable has two categories
A: true
B: false
6. The letter grade you get in a class (e.g., B+) is
an example of a(n) ____________ variable.
A. Nominal
B. Ordinal
C. Ratio
D. Interval
7. A person's weight is an example of a(n)
____________ variable.
A. Nominal
B. Ordinal
C. Ratio
D. Interval
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