Mixed Cohort

Research Methodology

Variables

Dr. Owais Raza

PhD (Epidemiology)

Assistant Professor
School of Public Health
Dow University of Health Sciences
Objectives

• At the end of the session, you should be able to:

• Define what variable is

• Differentiate between numerical and categorical variables

• Discuss confounders and their role in research

• Discuss why it is important to know why knowing the data type is important

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Steps

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What is a Variable?

• A variable is a characteristic of a person, object or phenomenon which can

take on different values
• Age

• Sex

• Season

• Number of children

• Top 10 songs

• God
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Types of Variable

Interval
Continuous
Quantitative Ratio
Discrete
00
Variable
Ordinal
Qualitative
Nominal
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Another Way of Classifying Variables
• Background

• Independent

• Dependent

• Latent

• Predictor

• Explanatory

• Confounding

• Outcome
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Operational Definition

• How the researcher decides to measure the variable

• A good operational definition depends on how well a researcher has developed

conceptual definition Ordinal scale:
4.0
3.7
3.3
Academic 3.0
performance GPA
∫
1.3
1.1
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Confounder

• A confounder is a variable that influences both the dependent variable and

independent variable, causing a spurious association

Smoking

Coffee drinking Cancer

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Confounder

• Conditions:
1. causally associated with the outcome
2. causally or non-causally associated with the exposure
3. not an intermediate variable in the causal pathway between exposure and
outcome

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 Confounder
Making notes
during class

Class
GPA
attendance mother’s
age

Down
Birth order
syndrome

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Confounder

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Why it is Important to Know Type of Variable?

• Calculating the right statistics

• Performing the right visualization

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Group Activity

Submission required before 3rd November 2022

• List down variables involved in your research proposal
• Classify as independent and dependent variables
• Classify as continuous, discrete, ordinal or nominal variable
• For any three variables, write down operational definition with reference

• Using factor analysis diagram, identify confounder(s) in your research proposal

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