PRACTICAL RESEARCH 2

KINDS OF VARIABLES

WHAT IS A VARIABLE?

-It is a measurable characteristic that changes in value.

-It is anything that may assume varied numerical or categorical values.

CONTINUOUS VARIABLE VS. DESCRETE VARIABLES

CONTINUOUS VARIABLES

-are variables that can take infinite number on the value that can occur within population.

-the variables that can be divided into fractions (e.g. age, height, and temperature)

DISCRETE VARIABLES

-It is also known as categorical or classificatory variable.

-It is any variable that has a limited number of distinct values and which cannot be divided into fractions. (e.g. sex,
blood, group,, and number of children in the family)

TYPES OF CONTINUOUS VARIABLES

1. INTERVAL VARIABLE
-It is a measurement where the difference between two values does have meaning (e.g. temperature).
2. RATIO VARIABLE
-It possesses the properties of interval variable and has a clear definition of zero, indication that there is none
of that variable. (e.g. height, weight, and distance)

TYPES OF DISCRETE VARIABLES

1. NOMINAL VARIABLE
-It is a variable with no quantitative value.
-It has two or more categories but does not imply ordering of cases (e.g. eye color, business type, and
religion).
2. ORDINAL VARIABLE
-It is a variable that has two or more categories which can be ranked.(e.g. level of performance, level of
satisfaction, education attainment, etc.)

INDEPENDENT VS. DEPENDENT VARIABLES

1. INDEPENDENT VARIABLES
-It is the cause variable or the one responsible for the conditions that act on something else to bring about
changes.
2. DEPENDENT VARIABLES
-it is also called outcome variable.
-It is the result or effect of the changes brought by another variable.

SAMPLING PROCEDURES
WHAT IS SAMPLING?
-It is a process of selecting few (a sample) from a bigger group (a population) to become the basis of
predicting the prevalence of an unknown piece of information, situation, or outcome, regarding the bigger
group.

SLOVIN’S FORMULA
Where:
N n= is the sample size
n= 1 + Ne2 N= is the population
E=is the margin of error (5%, 2%, or 1%)

Example:
Suppose you plan to conduct a study among 1,500 Grade 11 students enrolled in the TVL track. How many
respondents are needed using a margin of error of 5%?

N= 1500
E= 5% (0.05)

Solution:

n= 1500
1 + (1500) (0.05)2

n= 1500
1 + 3.75

n= 1500
4.75

n= 315.79/316 respondents