Amity Business School
Introduction to Research
By
Dr. Amit Kumar Pandey
Variables Amity Business School
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• Variables can be defined in terms of measurable
factors through a process of operationalization. It
will convert difficult concepts into easily
understandable concepts which then can be
measured, empirically. “It is essential to define
the term as variables so that they can be
quantified and measured.
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• There are different types of variables and having their
influence differently in a study viz. Independent &
dependent variables, Active and attribute variables,
Continuous, discrete and categorical variable,
Extraneous variables and Demographic variables.
Independent Variables
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• The independent variable is the antecedent while the
dependent variable is the consequent. If the independent
variable is an active variable then we manipulate the
values of the variable to study its affect on another
variable.
• The independent variable is the variable the experimenter
changes or controls and is assumed to have a direct effect on
the dependent variable.
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• Dependent variable is the variable that is affected by the
independent variable. The dependent variable is the
variable being tested and measured in an experiment,
and is 'dependent' on the independent variable.
An example of a dependent variable is depression
symptoms, which depends on the independent variable
(type of therapy).
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• Question for General Discussions.
• 1. Lack of sleep significantly affects learning outcomes.
• IV............................................................
• DV...........................................................
• 2. Social class has a significant effect on IQ scores.
• IV............................................................
• DV.......................................................…
• 3. Stressful experiences significantly increase the likelihood of
headaches.
• IV............................................................
• DV...........................................................
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• Discrete Variables
• Discrete variables are countable in a finite amount of
time. For example, you can count the change in your
pocket. You can count the money in your bank account.
You could also count the amount of money in everyone’s
bank accounts. It might take you a long time to count
that last item, but the point is—it’s still countable.
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• Continuous Variables would (literally) take
forever to count. In fact, you would get to
“forever” and never finish counting them. For
example, take age. You can’t count “age”. Why
not? Because it would literally take forever.
• For example, you could be:
• 25 years, 10 months, 2 days, 5 hours, 4
seconds, 4 milliseconds, 8 nanoseconds, 99
picosends…and so on.
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• Categorical Variables
• Categorical variables represent types of
data which may be divided into groups.
Examples of categorical variables are
race, sex, age group, and educational
level.
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Eye Color
•Hair Color Blue Green Brown Black Total
•-----------------------------------------------------
•Blonde 2 1 2 1 6
•Red 1 1 2 0 4
•Brown 1 0 4 2 7
•Black 1 0 2 0 3
•-----------------------------------------------------
•Total 5 2 10 3 20