Types
of Variables:
Before explaining the types of variables, let's understand first the concept of variable and constant in educational research. Then after, we will discuss the types of variables.
Variable:
A variable is a condition or
characteristic that can take on different values or categories. A much-studied
educational variable is intelligence, which varies from low to high for
different people. Age is another variable.
Constant:
A constant is a single value or
category of a variable. The variable gender is a marker for two constants: male
and female. The category (that is constant) male is a marker for only one
thing; it is one of the two constants forming the variable called gender.
Gender varies, but male does not vary. Therefore, gender is a variable, and
male is a constant.
Now, let's understand the types of variables. Following are the major types of variables which are being used in educational research.
Quantitative
variable: It is a variable
that varies in degree or amount. It usually involves numbers.
Categorical
variable: It is a variable
that varies in type or kind. It usually involves different groups.
Independent
variable: It is a variable
that is presumed to cause a change to occur in another variable.
Dependent
variable: It is a variable
that is presumed to be influenced by one or more independent variables. The
dependent variable is the variable that is “dependent on” the independent (that
is antecedent) variable(s).
A cause-and-effect
relationship between an independent variable and dependent variable is
present when changes in the independent variable tend to cause changes in the
dependent variable. Sometimes researchers call the dependent variables an
outcome variable or a response variable because it is used to measure the
effect of one or more independent variables.
