MODULE 3
KINDS OF VARIABLES AND
THEIR USES
PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
01 Identify kinds of v ariables.
02 Diff erentiate eac h variable fro m o ne another.
03 Determine the uses o f variables.
PURPOSE OF RESEARCH
To researc h is to searc h o r inv estigate
comprehensively. It is a c areful o r tho rough searc h,
studio us inquiry o r examinatio n espec ially
investigatio n o r experimentation aimed at the
disc o very and interpretatio n o f fac ts, revision o f
acc epted theo ries o r law s in the light of new fac ts o r
prac tic al applic ation o f suc h new or revised theo ries
or law s, it c an also be the c ollec tio n o f information
abo ut a partic ular subjec t (Webster, 1985).
VARIABLES IN RESEARCH
Variables are any fac to r o r c o nditio n that c an
c hange or vary and c an be measured o r
c ontrolled in an ex periment or study.
Variables are c ruc ial for testing hypo theses
and analy zing relatio nships betw een fac to rs.
Variables are c ruc ial for testing hypo theses
and analy zing relatio nships betw een fac to rs.
VARIABLES IN RESEARCH
Example:
In a study examining the eff ec t of study time
o n test sc o res, "study time" is the
independent v ariable (manipulated by the
researc her), w hile "test sc o res" are the
dependent v ariable (measured as an
o utc o me).
ROLES OF VARIABLES IN
RESEARCH
Variables allow researc hers to test hypo theses by
examining ho w c hanges in o ne variable aff ec t
ano ther.
Variables help c o ntrol and iso late fac to rs in an
experiment to determine their spec ifi c eff ec ts.
Variables fac ilitate the analysis of relatio nships
betw een fac to rs.
By c arefully defi ning and measuring v ariables,
researc hers c an generalize fi ndings to bro ader
po pulatio ns.
TYPES OF VARIABLES
Tw o ty pes: independent variables and dependent
variables
Independent v ariables – c ause c hanges in the
subjec t
Dependent v ariables – bear o r manifest the eff ec ts
c aused by the independent variables.
In a c ausal relationship, the c ause c o mes fro m the
independent v ariables; the eff ec ts , o n the
dependent v ariables.
TYPES OF VARIABLES
For ex ample:
To determine the po sitiv e eff ec ts o f Online Learning
(OL) on Intellec tual Grammar Learning Co mpetenc e
(IGLC):
In this c ase, Online Learning (OL) serves as the
independent v ariable and the Intellec tual Grammar
Learning Co mpetenc e (IGLC) as the dependent
variable.
TYPES OF VARIABLES
stands alo ne and isn’t c hanged by
the o ther v ariables y ou are try ing
1.
to measure
INDEPENDE
NT the o ne w hic h is manipulated by the
researc her, c an be c o ntro lled
VARIABLE
(V) suspec ted o f being the c ause in a
c ausal relatio nship
TYPES OF VARIABLES
the o utc ome o r respo nse that is
2. measured in an ex periment or study
DEPENDEN
depends o n c hanges made to the
T independent v ariable
VARIABLE
refl ec ts the eff ec t o r impac t of the
(DV) independent v ariable
TYPES OF VARIABLES
For ex ample:
In a study examining the eff ec t of exerc ise duratio n
(independent variable) o n weight lo ss (dependent
variable),
weight lo ss is the dependen t variable , as it is the
outc o me being measured to see ho w it c hanges in
respo nse to diff erent exerc ise durations.
TYPES OF VARIABLES
c harac teristic s o r attributes used to
3. summarize and desc ribe the main
DESCR IPTI features o f a dataset
VE are o ften c atego ric al and pro v ide
VARIABLES insights into the data’s struc ture and
distributio n witho ut making
predic tio ns o r inferenc es
TYPES OF VARIABLES
Demo graphic variables: age, gender,
ethnic ity
3.
DESCR IPTI Qualitativ e attributes: jo b titles,
VE educ atio nal lev els, geographic
lo c ations
VARIABLES
Summary statistic s: average inc o me,
perc entage o f peo ple w ith a c ertain
qualifi c ation, distributio n of sc o res
TYPES OF VARIABLES
“qualitative variables”
3.
CATEGORIC represent data that c an be div ided
into distinc t c atego ries o r gro ups
AL
VARIABLES are used to c lassify data based o n
attributes o r qualities rather than
numeric al v alues
TYPES OF VARIABLES
3. No minal v ariables: have c atego ries
w itho ut any inherent o rder
CATEGORIC
AL gender (male, female, non-binary),
VARIABLES c olo r (red, blue, green)
TYPES OF VARIABLES
Ordinal variables : have c ategories
w ith a meaningful o rder, but the
3. intervals between c atego ries are no t
CATEGORIC nec essarily equal
AL
Educ atio n Level (high sc ho o l,
VARIABLES bac helor's degree, master's degree,
do c to rate), Custo mer Satisfac tion
(very dissatisfi ed, dissatisfi ed,
neutral, satisfi ed, very satisfi ed)
TYPES OF VARIABLES
“quantitative variables”
4.
c an take o n a c o untable number o f
DISCRETE distinc t values
VARIABLES
may result fro m answ ering questio ns
suc h as “ho w many‟, “ho w o ften‟ and
“ho w far ” o r that c an only take o n a
c ertain number o f values
TYPES OF VARIABLES
Examples:
4.
DISCRETE number o f c hildren
c lassro om attendanc e
VARIABLES
grade level of students
number o f c ars
number o f pho ne c alls
TYPES OF VARIABLES
numeric variables that c an take any
value, a variable that c an be used fo r
5. an infi nite number o f po ssible values
CONTINUO
Examples:
US
VARIABLES Perso n’s w eight/age/height
Trav el time fro m Pampanga to
Bulac an
Pric e o f basic c ommo dities
Family inc o me
END OF MODULE 3
PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2