Ang Alibughang Anak

Ang parabulang “Ang Alibughang Anak” ay hango sa Bibliya na matatagpuan sa aklat ng Lucas kabanata
15 talata 11 hanggang 32 (Lucas 15:11-32).
May isang mayaman na may dalawang anak na lalaki.

Ang bunso ay hiningi na sa kanyang ama ang parte ng kanyang kayamanan.

Kaya naman hinati ng ama sa dalawa ang lahat ng kanyang yaman. Pagkalipas
ng ilang araw ay umalis na ang bunso at nagtungo sa malayong lupain dala
ang lahat ng kanyang mana.

Nilustay niya ang lahat ng kanyang ari-arian. Nang magugol na niya ang lahat
ng kanyang yaman ay saka naman nagkaroon ng matinding taggutom sa
lugar na kanyang pinuntahan.

Nakahanap siya ng trabaho bilang tagapag-pakain ng baboy. Sa sobrang

gutom ay pati ang kaning-baboy ay kanya na ring kinakain.

Nang makapag-isip-isip ang bunsong anak ay naalala niya na sa lugar ng

kanyang ama ay maraming upahang mga utusan. Ang mga iyon ay sagana sa
tinapay samantalang siya ay mamamatay na dahil sa gutom.

Naisip niyang bumalik sa kanyang ama kahit bilang utusan na lamang at siya’y
hihingi umano ng tawad.

Tumayo siya sa kinauupuan at naglakbay pabalik sa kanyang ama.

Malayo pa’y natanawan na siya nito at naawa sa sinapit ng anak. Niyakap niya
ang anak at hinagkan.

Sinabi ng bunsong anak, “Ama, nagkasala ako laban sa langit at sa iyong

paningin. Hindi na ako karapat-dapat na tawaging anak mo.”

Gayunpaman ay tinawag ng ama ang kanyang mga utusan at sinabing,

“Madali! Dalhin ninyo ang pinakamainam na kasuotan at isuot ninyo sa kaniya.
Magbigay kayo ng singsing para sa kaniyang kamay at panyapak para sa
kaniyang mga paa. Magdala kayo ng pinatabang guya at katayin ito. Tayo ay
kakain at magsaya. Ito ay sapagkat ang anak kong ito ay namatay at muling
nabuhay. Siya ay nawala at natagpuan.”

Pag-uwi galing sa bukirin ay narinig ng panganay na anak ang kasiyahan sa

kanilang bahay. Itinanong niya sa isa nilang alipin kung anong mayroon doon.

Anang alipin ay dumating na umano ang bunso niyang kapatid. Nagpapatay

ng guya ang kanyang ama dahil umuwing malusog at walang sakit ang
kapatid niya.

Nang marinig ito ay nagalit ang panganay at ayaw pumasok ng sa kanilang

bahay.

Dahil dito’y lumabas ang kaniyang ama at inamu-amo siya.

Anang panganay, “Naglingkod ako sa iyo ng maraming taon. Kahit minsan ay

hindi ako sumalangsang sa iyong utos. Kahit minsan ay hindi mo ako binigyan
ng maliit na kambing upang makipagsaya akong kasama ng aking mga
kaibigan. Nang dumating itong anak mo, nagpakatay ka para sa kaniya ng
pinatabang guya. Siya ang nag-aksaya ng iyong kabuhayan kasama ng mga
masasamang babae.”

Tumugon ang ama at sinabing, “Anak, lagi kitang kasama at lahat ng akin ay
sa iyo. Ang magsaya at magalak ay kailangan sapagkat ang kapatid mong ito
ay namatay at muling nabuhay. Siya ay nawala at natagpuan.”
Talinghaga Tungkol sa Tatlong Alipin
Ang parabulang “Talinghaga tungkol sa Tatlong Alipin” ay hango sa Bibliya na matatagpuan sa aklat ng
Mateo kabanata 25 talata 14 hanggang 30 (Mateo 25:14-30).
May isang taong maglalakbay kaya tinawag niya ang tatlo niyang alipin upang
pamahalaan ng kanyang ari-arian.

Binigyan niya ng pera ang bawat isa ayon sa kanilang kakayahan.

Ang unang alagad ay binigyan niya ng limanlibong salaping ginto, dalawang

libong salaping ginto naman sa ikalawang alipin, at isang libong salaping
ginto sa ikatlo.

Pagkatapos nito ay umalis na ang kanilang panginoon.

Agad na kumilos ang binigyan ng limanlibong salaping ginto at ipinangalakal

ang salapi. Siya ay kumita ng limanlibong salaping ginto.

Gayundin ang ginawa ng ikalawang alipin kaya tumubo din ang kanyang
salapi ng dalawang libong salaping ginto.

Samantala, ang tumanggap ng isang libong salaping ginto ay humukay sa

lupa at itinago ang salaping ginto ng kanyang panginoon.

Pagkaraan ng mahabang panahon ay nagbalik na ang kanilang panginoon at

pinag-ulat ang bawat isa.

Lumapit ang unang alipin at sinabing, “Panginoon, tumubo po ng limang libo

ang salaping ipinagkatiwa ninyo sa akin.”

Natuwa ang panginoon at sinabi sa alipin, “Magaling! Tapat at mabuting

lingkod! Naging tapat ka sa kaunting halaga, kaya’t pamamahalain kita sa
malaking halaga. Samahan mo ako sa aking kagalakan!”
Sunod na lumapit ang ikalawang alipin at sinabi sa kanyang panginoon,
“Panginoon, ito po ang iniwan ninyo sa aking dalawang libong salaping ginto.
Heto naman po ang dalawang libong salaping ginto na tinubo nito.”

Sumagot ang panginoon at sinabing, “Magaling! Tapat at mabuting lingkod!

Naging tapat ka sa kaunting halaga, kaya’t pamamahalain kita sa malaking
halaga. Samahan mo ako sa aking kagalakan!”

Huling lumapit ang ikatlong alagad na tumanggap ng isang libong ginto at

sinabing, “Alam ko pong kayo’y mahigpit at pinipitas ninyo ang bunga ng
hindi ninyo itinanim at inaani ninyo ang hindi ninyo inihasik. Natakot po ako,
kaya’t ibinaon ko sa lupa ang inyong salaping ginto. Heto na po ang inyong
salapi.”

Nagalit sa kanya ang kanilang panginoon at sinabing, “Masama at tamad na

lingkod! Alam mo palang pinipitas ko ang bunga ng hindi ko itinanim at inaani
ko ang hindi ko inihasik, bakit hindi mo na lamang inilagay sa bangko ang
aking salapi! Kahit paano’y may tinubo sana ito! Kunin ninyo sa kanya ang
isanlibong salaping ginto at ibigay sa may sampung libong salaping ginto.
Sapagkat ang mayroon ay bibigyan pa, at magkakaroon ng sagana; ngunit
ang wala, pati ang kakaunting nasa kanya ay kukunin pa. Itapon ninyo sa
kadiliman sa labas ang walang silbing taong iyan! Doo’y mananangis siya at
magngangalit ang kanyang mga ngipin.”
Quantitative Variables
Because quantitative methodology requires measurement, the concepts being investigated need to be defined in a
way that can be measured. Organizational change, reading comprehension, emergency response, or depression are
concepts but they cannot be measured as such. Frequency of organizational change, reading comprehension scores,
emergency response time, or types of depression can be measured. They are variables (concepts that can vary).

Quantitative research involves many kinds of variables. There are four main types:

 Independent variables (IV).

 Dependent variables (DV).
 Sample variables.
 Extraneous variables.
Each is discussed below.

Independent Variables (IV)

Independent variables (IV) are those that are suspected of being the cause in a causal relationship. If you are asking
a cause and effect question, your IV will be the variable (or variables if more than one) that you suspect causes the
effect.

There are two main sorts of IV, active independent variables and attribute independent variables:

 Active IV are interventions or conditions that are being applied to the participants. A special tutorial for the third
graders, a new therapy for clients, or a new training program being tested on employees would be active IVs.
 Attribute IV are intrinsic characteristics of the participants that are suspected of causing a result. For example, if
you are examining whether gender—which is intrinsic to the participants—results in higher or lower scores on
some skill, gender is an attribute IV.
 Both types of IV can have what are called levels. For example:
o In the example above, the active IV special tutorial, receiving the tutorial is one level, and tutorial
withheld (control) is a second level.
o In the same example, being a third grader would be an attribute IV. It could be defined as only one level—
being in third grade—or you might wish to define it with more than one level, such as first half of third
grade and second half of third grade. Indeed, that attribute IV could take many more, for example, if you
wished to look at each month of third grade.
Independent variables are frequently called different things depending on the nature of the research question. In
predictive questions where a variable is thought to predict another but it is not yet appropriate to ask whether
it causes the other, the IV is usually called a predictor or criterion variable rather than an independent variable.

Dependent Variables (DV)

Dependent variables are those that are influenced by the independent variables. If you ask,"Does A cause [or predict
or influence or affect, and so on] B?," then B is the dependent variable (DV).

 Dependent variables are variables that depend on or are influenced by the independent variables.
 They are outcomes or results of the influence of the independent variable.
 Dependent variables answer the question: What do I observe happening when I apply the intervention?
 The dependent variable receives the intervention.
In questions where full causation is not assumed, such as a predictive question or a question about differences
between groups but no manipulation of an IV, the dependent variables are usually called outcome variables, and the
independent variables are usually called the predictor or criterion variables.

Sample Variables
In some studies, some characteristic of the participants must be measured for some reason, but that characteristic is
not the IV or the DV. In this case, these are called sample variables. For example, suppose you are investigating
whether servant leadership style affects organizational performance and successful financial outcomes. In order to
obtain a sample of servant leaders, a standard test of leadership style will be administered. So the presence or
absence of servant leadership style will be a sample variable. That score is not used as an IV or a DV, but simply to
get the appropriate people into the sample.

When there is no measure of a characteristic of the participants, the characteristic is called a "sample characteristic."
When the characteristic must be measured, it is called a "sample variable."

Extraneous Variables
Extraneous variables are not of interest to the study but may influence the dependent variable. For this reason, most
quantitative studies attempt to control extraneous variables. The literature should inform you what extraneous
variables to account for.

There is a special class of extraneous variables called confounding variables. These are variables that can cause the
effect we are looking for if they are not controlled for, resulting in a false finding that the IV is effective when it is not.
In a study of changes in skill levels in a group of workers after a training program, if the follow-up measure is taken
relatively late after the training, the simple effect of practicing the skills might explain improved scores, and the
training might be mistakenly thought to be successful when it was not.

There are many details about variables not covered in this handout. Please consult any text on research methods for
a more comprehensive review.

Quantitative Scales of Measurement

Quantitative research requires that measurements be both accurate and reliable. Researchers commonly assign
numbers or values to the attributes of people, objects, events, perceptions, or concepts. This process is referred to
as measurement. The variables that are measured are commonly classified as being measured on a nominal, ordinal,
interval or ratio scale. The following discussion defines and provides examples of each of the four levels of
measurement.

Nominal Scale: The nominal scales is essentially a type of coding that simply puts people, events, perceptions,
objects or attributes into categories based on a common trait or characteristic. The coding can be accomplished by
using numbers, letters, colors, labels or any symbol that can distinguish between the groups. The nominal scale is
the lowest form of a measurement because it is used simply to categorize and not to capture additional information.
Other features of a nominal scale are that each participant or object measured is placed exclusively into one category
and there is no relative ordering of the categories. Some examples include distinguishing between smokers and
nonsmokers, males and females, types of religious affiliations, blondes vs. brunettes and so on. In a study related to
smoking, smokers may be assigned a value of 1 and nonsmokers may be assigned a value of 2. The assignment of
the number is purely arbitrary and at the researcher’s discretion.

Ordinal Scale: The ordinal scale differs from the nominal scale in that it ranks the data from lowest to highest and
provides information regarding where the data points lie in relation to one another. An ordinal scale typically uses
non-numerical categories such as low, medium and high to demonstrate the relationships between the data points.
The disadvantage of the ordinal scale is that it does not provide information regarding the magnitude of the
difference between the data points or rankings. An example of the use of an ordinal scale would be a study that
examines the smoking rates of teenagers. The data collected may indicate that the teenage smokers in the study
smoked anywhere from 15 to 40 cigarettes per day. The data could be arranged in order and examined in terms of
the number of smokers at each level.

Interval Scale: An interval scale is one in which the actual distances, or intervals between the categories or points
on the scale can be compared. The distance between the numbers or units on the scale are equal across the scale.
An example would be a temperature scale, such as the Farenheit scale. The distance between 20 degrees and 40
degrees is the same as between 60 degrees and 80 degrees. A distinguishing feature of interval scales is that there is
no absolute zero point because the key is simply the consistent distance or interval between categories or data
points.
Ratio Scale: The ratio scale contains the most information about the values in a study. It contains all of the
information of the other three categories because it categorizes the data, places the data along a continuum so that
researchers can examine categories or data points in relation to each other, and the data points or categories are
equal distances or intervals apart. However, the difference is the ratio scale also contains a non-arbitrary absolute
zero point. The lowest data point collected serves as a meaningful absolute zero point which allows for interpretation
of ratio comparisons. Time is one example of the use of a ration measurement scale in a study because it is divided
into equal intervals and a ratio comparison can be made. For example, 20 minutes is twice as long as 10 minutes.

Quantitative research is widely used

in psychology, economics, demography, sociology, marketing, community health, health &
human development, gender studies, and political science; and less frequently
in anthropology and history. Research in mathematical sciences, such as physics, is also
"quantitative" by definition, though this use of the term differs in context. In the social
sciences, the term relates to empirical methods originating in both
philosophical positivism and the history of statistics, in contrast with qualitative
research methods.

Basically the information available can help to determine which direction to move into the
future.