Variables are important concepts in research.
Contexts research students need to have a basic understanding regarding the meaning of variables in research and the types of research variables so in this presentation we will discuss the general meaning of research variables in its various types so first of all what is a research variable definitionresearch variable definitionin this general meaning a actually refers to something that changes something that is not fixed or constant or something that can have more than one values um generally in the research context variables can be considered as attributes and or qualities of natural and or social phenomena which means concepts that can have more than one values in the research context in the particular research context in which these variables have been used now in other words we can also say that variables generally represents attributes or characteristics or qualities that are shared by a group of research participants or a set of research situations or sites or phenomena examples of research variables um include gender so gender can be an available in a social science research or even in natural science research ability similarly intelligence can be a very research variable definitioncolor weight style and so on there are numerous other examples of variables that we used in research in social and natural contexts now generally variables are associated with quantitative studies experimental research or quasi experimental studies and especially studies where there is there is the aim of which is actually exploration of relations between phenomena between variables both in natural and social sciences um manipulation and changes in the values of variables basically helps the researchers in understanding the interaction of these variables or the interaction of the factors or the constructs related to natural and social phenomena example of this of trying to find a relationship between two social phenomena is effect of teaching method for example on academic performance of students.
Now here we have two main variables um teaching method is one research variable definitionand academic performance is is the other research variable definitionthe phenomena from which we have taken these variables for our research is education or teaching learning or you can say pedagogy so this is an example from from social sciences related to how we actually explore the relationship of variables in research context now there are certain types of variables um and here we are restricting ourselves to the main types of variables so generally variables have been categorized in several ways in several types and these the main types include qualitative or categorical variables quantitative or numerical variables independent variables dependent variables and extraneous variables now what are qualitative or categorical variables categorical or qualitative variables are variables that represent qualities so qualities of the phenomena or of the elements that we are studying in our research for example personality type could be a quality that could be a research variable definitionin a particular study related to the study of personality or the relationship of personality with some other phenomena such as such as the level of confidence or maybe leadership similarly gender color belief nature etc so these are some of the exams some some examples of what qualitative or categorical variables and as you can see that each of these variables actually represent certain quality then quantitative or numerical variables are variables that represent quantitative or numerical attributes of the research participants or the research sites or phenomena and examples are for example marks students marks um age in terms of years or months or days etc class strength or the number of students in the class family size and salary etc so these are examples of quantitative or numeric variables now the main types of variables also include the most important types include independent variables so what are independent variables generally the concept of independent variables independent variables relate to experimental studies.
Independent variables are basically controlled variables that are controlled or manipulated or changes are made to these variables to see their possible effects on other variables that are actually dependent research variable definitionso what happens is that changes in other dependent variables are basically attributed to or deemed to have been caused by the manipulation of the independent variables for example the effect of teaching methods on students academic achievement so here the teaching method is can be taken as independent research variable definitionand the academic achievement of students can be taken as dependent research variable definitionand so the manipulation or the change in the independent research variable definitionthat is the teaching method might have consequences for or effect on the dependent research variable definitionin terms of students academic achievement the main types of variables also include dependent research variable definitionso as we already have mentioned independent research variable definitionthe dependent variables are again is in line with independent variables dependent variables are used in experimental generally in experimental or relational studies and dependent variables are deemed to have been caused by or changed by manipulation or control of the independent variables so we can say these are the outcomes or changes in the dependent variables or outcomes or effects of the changes or manipulation of independent variables dependent variables are generally we can say the effect of the independent variables uh and so the independent variables are the cause so again to take the same example effect of teaching method on students academic achievement so here the dependent research variable definitionis students academic achievement besides this the main types of variables also include extraneous and confounding variables extraneous variables are basically variables that are not investigated or that is actually investigation of future exploration of which is not the main aim of the research that we are conducting but these may affect the dependent variables for example in this example effect of teaching methods on students academic achievement the extraneous research variable definitioncould be students level of involvement or readiness so although we are exploring the effect of teaching method on academic achievement but the extraneous research variable definitionis here could be one of the extraneous variables there obviously there could be other extraneous variables as well so one of those could be the student’s involvement or readiness maybe it is the environment inside the class or outside the class that could have affected the dependent research variable definitionthat is academic achievement so such variables are called extraneous variables and so experimental researchers need to be vigilant regarding the the effect of such variables in order to have more nuanced and deeper and more realistic understanding of the impact of variables then confounding variables are is another category or some some say a subset of extraneous variables that may affect both the dependent or and independent variables so for example the effect of teachers level of preparation or experience on teaching method which itself is in has been taken as an independent research variable definitionand then as well as on students academic achievement and again this might have might have impact on students academic achievement so here we can see that the confounding research variable definitionthat is the teacher’s level of preparation or experience has might have an effect both on the independent research variable definitionthat is the teaching method.
The teachers use as well as the students academic achievement.
Where to find great research papers?
Various great research journals such as Global Research Letters are a great option and way to help you look up impactful research papers with a great format. Here, you will find a number of various research papers that are provided and made available to you in the journal, which will help you write your own paper.
You can very easily find papers on a variety of topics at Global Research Letters, which will help you with your own research work and understanding of writing and publishing research papers properly. With access to so many amazing research papers, you can practice and learn the process of writing research papers and their importance.