Variables
- 1. Dr Neeta Gupta Associate Professor Department of psychology Certified Practitioner of EFT & REBT (London) & CBT (Scotland) DAV PG College Dehradun Variables
- 2. Variables are properties or characteristics of some event, object, person, place or thing that are measurable and can take on more than one value, or vary.IOW, variables are the conditions that are manipulated,controlled or observed by the experimenter.
- 3. Variables can be classified as IV,DV,EV etc.The term IV and DV are borrowed from the field oh mathematics in behavioural researches.The classification of variables into IV and DV is frequently employed in experimental research. Underwood calls the IV as the stimulus variable and DV as the response variable.
- 4. Independent Variable The variable that is stable and unaffected by the other variables you are trying to measure. It refers to the condition of an experiment that is systematically manipulated by the investigator. It is the presumed cause.
- 5. An independent variable is also sometimes called: A controlled variable. An explanatory variable. An exposure variable (in reliability theory). A feature (in machine learning and pattern recognition). An input variable. A manipulated variable. A predictor variable. A regressor (in regression analysis). A risk factor (in medical statistics). A Change Variable
- 6. Type E (Directly or experimentally directed) Type S (Manipulated through the process of selection only) Experimentation IV Correlational Research
- 8. Task variable: Refers to those characteristics which are related with a behavioural task presented to the subject. Physical characteristics of apparatus as well as many features of the task procedures.
- 9. Environmental Variable: Characteristics of the environment which are not the physical parts of the task as such but tend to produce changes in the behavioural measures. Noise, temperature,light etc are examples of EV.
- 10. Subject Variable: Characteristics of the subject which are likely to produce changes in the behavioural measures. Sex,age,weight, anxiety IQ etc are some of them.
- 11. Dependent Variable The variable that depends on other factors that are measured. These variables are expected to change as a result of an experimental manipulation of the independent variable or variables. It is the presumed effect.
- 13. Extraneous variables are all variables, which are not the independent variable, but could affect the results of the experiment. Hence, all the other variables that could affect the dependent variable to change must be controlled. These other variables are called extraneous or confounding variables.
- 14. Variables classified on the basis of Unit of Measurement: 1.Quantitative Variables - Variables whose values result from counting or measuring something. Examples: height, weight, time in the 100 yard dash, number of items sold to a shopper 2.Qualitative Variables - Variables that are not measurement variables. Their values do not result from measuring or counting. Examples: hair color, religion, political party, profession.
- 17. Discrete variables are countable in a finite amount of time. For example, you can count the change in your pocket. You can count the money in your bank account. You could also count the amount of money in everyone’s bank accounts. It might take you a long time to count that last item, but the point is—it’s still countable. Continuous Variables would (literally) take forever to count. In fact, you would get to “forever” and never finish counting them. For example, take age. You can’t count “age”. Why not? Because it would literally take forever.
- 18. Intervening Variable: It refers to abstract processes that are not directly observable but that link the independent and dependent variables. In language learning and teaching, they are usually inside the subjects' heads, including various language learning processes which the researcher cannot observe. For example, if the use of a particular teaching technique is the independent variable and mastery of the objectives is the dependent variable, then the language learning processes used by the subjects are the intervening variables.
- 19. Moderator Variable: It affects the relationship between the independent and dependent variables by modifying the effect of the intervening variable(s). Unlike extraneous variables, moderator variables are measured and taken into consideration. These are also known as secondary IV. Effect of Lecture Learning and Effect of Demonstration method Level of Intelligence
- 20. An active variable is a variable that can be manipulated. An attribute variable is a variable that cannot be manipulated. An example of an attribute variable is gender, race, psychological condition, and or any characteristic that is inherent or pre- programmed and cannot be altered.
- 21. Extraneous variables are all variables, which are not the independent variable, but could affect the results of the experiment. The researcher wants to make sure that it is the manipulation of the independent variable that has an effect on the dependent variable. Lurking variable: A variable that is neither the explanatory variable nor the response variable but has a relationship (e.g. may be correlated) with the response and the explanatory variable. It is not considered in the study but could influence the relationship between the variables in the study. Confounding variable: A variable that is in the study and is related to the other study variables, thus having an effect on the relationship between these variables. A lurking variable, if included in the study, could have a confounding effect and then be classified as a confounding variable.
- 22. Extraneous-Variable Subject Relevant Sequence Relevant Situational Relevant Demand Characteris tics
- 23. 1.Subject/Person Relevant Variable: This refers to the ways in which each participant varies from the other, and how this could affect the results e.g. mood, intelligence, anxiety, nerves, concentration etc. For example, if a participant that has performed a memory test was tired, dyslexic or had poor eyesight, this could effect their performance and the results of the experiment. 2.Situation related Variable: These are aspects of the environment that might affect the participant’s behavior, e.g. noise, temperature, lighting conditions, etc. Situational variables should be controlled so they are the same for all participants.
- 24. 3.Sequence variables also include order effects that can be controlled using counterbalancing, such as giving half the participants condition 'A' first, while the other half get condition 'B' first. This prevents improvement due to practice, or poorer performance due to boredom. 4.Demand characteristics are all the clues in an experiment which convey to the participant the purpose of the research. Demand characteristics can change the results of an experiment if participants change their behavior to conform to expectations. Participants will be affected by: (i) their surroundings; (ii) the researcher’s characteristics; (iii) the researcher’s behavior (e.g. non-verbal communication), and (iv) their interpretation of what is going on in the situation. Experimenters should attempt to minimize these factors.
- 25. Techniques of controlling Extraneous Variable: 1.Technique of Elimination 2.Constancy of Conditions 3.Balancing 4.Counterbalancing 5.Randomization