Variables

Definition:

A variable is a condition or characteristic that varies or takes on different values such as age, sex, weight,
blood pressure reading, blood group, pulse rate, anxiety level etc.

In a study if any patients admitted in the hospital are to be studied, the sex, educational status, type of
disease etc. may be variables. if study included only the male patients sex is not a variable. If all patients
included in a study are diabetic patient disease is not a variable in that study.

Importance of Variables

Variation of the human characteristics or conditions is the basis for most research studies.

Types of Variables

A variable may be discrete/categorical or continuous/ numerical.

 The variable that can be expressed in quantity with no gaps between values is known as
continuous or numerical variable such as age, height, weight, pulse rate, blood pressure,
temperature etc. Continuous variables are measured either in ratio or interval scale.
 The Discrete or categorical variables are qualitative variable that can only be classified into
mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories e.g., sex, ethnicity, occupation, residence, blood
group, nutritional status etc.
 The classification of variable as numerical and categorical are concerned with measurement of
the variable and analysis of data. The type of variable influences the data analysis technique.
 Research variables are conditions or characteristics of persons, things or situations that the
researcher is interested in observing and measuring. When the purpose of research is to
observe and measure the variables in a natural setting without any intervention research
variables are used. Descriptive research studies are concerned with investigating research
variables.

independent and dependent variables:

 Independent Variable is the cause, stimulus or the condition that the researcher manipulates in
find out its relationship with the observed phenomenon. In nursing, independent variable may
be a teaching method, teaching material, procedure technique, expire to certain therapies etc.
 Dependent variable is the variable that the researcher is interested in understanding, explaining
or predicting. Dependent variable also known as outcome variable

The variable may be independent or independent variable

In cause and effect studies like;

'effect of a pre-surgical nursing intervention on patients recovery',

'effect of dressing techniques on wound healing in burn patients' and

'effect of back rubbing in the prevention of bed-sort in bed-ridden patients'

the presumed cause is referred as independent variable and presumed effect as dependent variable.

 In a research study there may be more than one independent variable or more than one
dependent variable. For example in a study of 'the factors influencing the incidence of
hypertension' the researcher might consider age, sex, weight, physical activity, eating pattern,
smoking status as independent variables. Some of these are non-manipulable variables where
as others can be manipulated

In a study of 'the effect of preoperative preparation of the patients on their postoperative outcome'
several dependent variables may be used to measure postoperative outcome such as the length of
hospital stay, number of complications, number of analgesic administrations etc.

Independent and dependent variables are used to indicate the direction of influence. In a study ‘the
attitude of people towards abortion' if we formulate the hypothesis 'literate people hold most favorable
attitude towards abortion than illiterate people' literacy of people is the independent variable and
attitude towards abortion is the dependent variable.

Variables are not inherently, independent or dependent variable. The designations of a variable as
independent or dependent variable is the matter of role that the variable plays in a particular study. A
variable that is independent variable in one study may be dependent variable in another study.

For example, in a study of 'the effect of unwanted pregnancy on child abuse' unwanted pregnancy is
the independent variable. In another study of 'the effect of FP counselling on the incidence of
unwanted pregnancies' unwanted pregnancy is the dependent variable.

Extraneous variables:

 In a cause and effect study the variables that are manipulated by the researcher but that may
influence the result or outcome (dependent variable) of the study are known as extraneous
variables. They act as unwanted independent variable such as age, sex, nutrition status etc.
 Some of the extraneous variables can altered and some cannot be changed or altered
 Extraneous variables that cannot be changed or altered are known as attribute or organismic
variables. Attribute variables are the pre-existing characteristics of the subjects e.g. age, sex,
educational status, ethnicity etc.

Controlling Extraneous Variables

It is not possible to eliminate all extraneous variables in a study but their influence can be neutralize or
minimized by various measure such as building the important extraneous (attribute) variables as
independent variables. Age, sex, residence as extraneous variable can be controlled by using them as
independent variable and observing their effect. For example: is there a difference in the knowledge
score obtained by boys and girls following the administration of a health education program?

Randomization: It involves selecting the required number of subjects from the

population in such a way that each subject in a population has an equal chance of getting
included in the sample.
  Randomization that operates on the principle of chance helps to obtain a sample that is
comparable to the population with respect to the extraneous variables. This strategy
ensures the control of identified as well as unidentified extraneous variables.
 Randomization also includes random a ssignment of subjects to experimental
and control groups that e n s u r e s t h e p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t t h e subjects with
different extraneous variables are equally dispersed in the two groups. As a result
the two groups become _equivalent in respect to extraneous variables,

Homogeneity: Removing the variable or taking a homogenous group.

This method is used when randomization is not feasible.

This is a method of controlling intrinsic subject characteristics (attribute variables) such as age, sex,
ethnicity etc. that could pollute the outcome of the study.

Homogeneity can be established by takin cases with same characteristics. For example sex as a
variable can be eliminated by taking only male people or only female people in the sample.

The limitations of homogeneity strategy are that the generalization of the result will be limited to the
type of subjects included In the study; difficulty in homogenizing if there are many extraneous variables
and in order to homogenize the researcher must have prior knowledge of the possible extraneous
variables.

Matching cases: It involves selecting pairs or sets of individuals with identical or nearly Identical
characteristics and assigning one of them to the experimental group and another to control group.
Matching is done on one-to-one basis. So it is known as paired matching. If age and sex were the
extraneous variables in the study, with this technique the researcher would need to match each subject
in the experimental group with the one in the control group with respect to age and sex.

To use one-to-one matching technique researcher must know in advance about the extraneous
variables.

After two or three variables it becomes impossible to pair match adequately. Moreover, if match subject
is not available, some individuals might need to be excluded from the study. So this is not an effective
method of controlling extraneous variables.

Statistical control: In quasi experimental designs due to lack of random assignment the initial
equivalency of the comparison group is questionable. In such cases analysis of covariance (ANCOVA)
provides the post statistical control of removing the effect of extraneous variable on the dependent
variable and help in maintaining internal validity

Operationalization of the Variables Includes defining the research variables and independent and
dependent variables conceptually and operationally.

Conceptual definition reveals the theoretical meaning of the variable and operational definition specifies
how the variable will be operated or measured in the study

A conceptual definition enables the researcher in the selection or construction of appropriate

instrument to measure the variable.
Operational definition allows the selection of thee of instrument and the method of measurement to be
used in order to measure the variable.

At times more than one type of instrument needs to be used to measure the variable validly or
completely.