KINDS OF VARIABLES

AND THEIR USES

WHAT IS A VARIABLE?
It refers to a characteristic or attribute of an individual or
an organization that can be measured or observed and that
varies among people or organization being studied.

 The most common variables in social research are age,

sex, gender, education, income, marital status and
occupation.
KINDS OF VARIABLES
1. INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
→ are those that the researcher has control over. This "control" may involve manipulating
existing variables or introducing new variables in the research setting. Whatever the case may
be, the researcher expects that the independent variable(s) will have some effect on (or
relationship with) the dependent variables.

Example: The Effectiveness of Using a New Language Teaching Procedure on Students’

Scores

Independent variable → the use or non-use of a new language teaching

procedure.
 2. DEPENDENT VARIABLE
→ show the effect of manipulating or introducing the independent variables. In other words, the
variation in the dependent variable depends on the variation in the independent variable.

Example: The Effectiveness of Using a New Language Teaching Procedure on Students’

Scores

Independent variable → the use or non-use of a new language teaching

procedure.
Dependent variable → students’ scores on a test of the content taught using that
procedure.
 3. INTERVENING VARIABLE
→ refers to abstract processes that are not directly observable but that links the independent and
dependent variables.

Example: The Effectiveness of Using a New Language Teaching Procedure on Students’

Scores

Independent variable → the use or non-use of a new language teaching

procedure.
Dependent variable → students’ scores on a test of the content taught using that
procedure.
Intervening variable → the actual learning processes used internally by the students
to learn the subject matter.
4. MODERATOR VARIABLE
→ affects the relationship between the independent and dependent variables by modifying the
effect of the intervening variable(s). Moderator variables are measured and taken into
consideration.

Example: The Effectiveness of Using a New Language Teaching Procedure on Students’

Scores

Independent variable → the use or non-use of a new language teaching

procedure.
Dependent variable → students’ scores on a test of the content taught using that
procedure.
Intervening variable → the actual learning processes used internally by the students
to learn the subject matter.
Moderator variable → typical moderator variables in TESL and language acquisition
research (when they are not the major focus of the study) include sex, age, culture, or
language proficiency of the subjects.
5. CONTROL VARIABLE
→ the variables that are not measured in a particular study must be held constant,
neutralized/balanced, or eliminated, so they will not have a biasing effect on the other variables.
Variables that have been controlled in this way are called control variables.

Examples: Does soil quality affect plant growth?

• temperature
• amount of light
• amount of water

Does caffeine improve memory recall?

• participant age
• noise in the environment
• type of memory test
6. EXTRANEOUS VARIABLE
→ are those factors in the research environment which may have an effect on the dependent
variable(s) but which are not controlled. If they cannot be controlled, extraneous variables must
at least be taken into consideration when interpreting results.

Example:

You want to know if online learning increases student understanding of statistics. One group
uses an online knowledge base to study, the other group uses a traditional text. Extraneous
variables could include prior knowledge of statistics; you would have to make sure that group A
roughly matched group B with prior knowledge before starting the study. Other extraneous
variables could include amount of support in the home, socio-economic income, or temperature
of the testing room.
REFERENCES
https://linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/henrichsenl/ResearchMethods/RM_2_14.html

https://www.slideshare.net/mjlobetos/lesson-3-kinds-of-variables-and-thier-uses-118
752476
THANK YOU!!!