VARIABLES IN DATA
Dr. Kuldeep SharmA
Hod, Research Centre
K.P.B. Hinduja College
Charni Road, Mumbai
WHAT IS VARIABLES?
Variables are things you measure, manipulate
and control in statistics and research. All
studies analyze a variable, which can describe
a person, place, thing or idea. A variable's
value can change between groups or over
time. For example, if the variable in an
experiment is a person's eye color, its value
can change from brown to blue to green from
person to person
TYPES OF VARIABLES
Independent Variables
Dependent Variables
Mediating Variables
Moderating Variables
Control Variables
Extraneous Variables
Quantitative Variables
Qualitative Variables
Confounding Variables
Composite Variables
INDEPENDENT VARIABLES
• Variables which can manipulate, Control or
Change other variables
• Variable that is presumed to influence other
variable
• Example: Age, Gender, Height etc.
DEPENDENT VARIABLES
• Dependent Variables are the outcome variables
and are the variables for which we calculate
statistics.
• The variables which changes on account of
independent variable is known as dependent
variable
• Example: Weight, Sales, Marks etc.
MEDIATING VARIABLES
A mediator is a way in which an independent
variable impacts a dependent variable. It’s part
of the causal pathway of an effect, and it tells
you how or why an effect takes place
It is caused by the independent Variables and
influences the dependent Variable
Mediating Variables are also known as
Intervening Variables
MEDIATING VARIABLES
For example, sleep quality (an independent
variable) can affect academic achievement (a
dependent variable) through the mediator of
alertness
Mediator
Variable
Independent Dependent
Variable Variable
Moderating Variable
• A moderator influences the level, direction, or
presence of a relationship between variables. It shows
you for whom, when, or under what circumstances a
relationship will hold.
• Moderators usually help you judge the external
validity of your study by identifying the limitations of
when the relationship between variables holds.
• For example, while social media use can predict
levels of loneliness, this relationship may be stronger
for youths than for older adults. Age is a moderator
here
Mediating v/s Moderating
Variable
• A mediating variable (or mediator) explains
the process through which two variables are
related, while a moderating variable (or
moderator) affects the strength and direction
of that relationship.
Control Variables
Control or controlling variables are characteristics
that are constant and do not change during a study.
They have no effect on other variables. Researchers
might intentionally keep a control variable the same
throughout an experiment to prevent bias.
For example, in an experiment about plant
development, control variables might include the
amounts of fertilizer and water each plant gets. These
amounts are always the same so that they do not
affect the plants' growth.
Extraneous Variables
Independent Variables that are not related to the
purpose of the study but may affect the dependent
variable are termed as extraneous variables.
Extraneous variables are factors that affect the
dependent variable but that the researcher did not
originally consider when designing the experiment.
For example, a study assessing whether private
tutoring is more effective at improving students'
Spanish test scores. Extraneous variables that might
unintentionally influence the outcome include
parental support, prior knowledge of a foreign
language or socioeconomic status.
Extraneous Variables
Private Tutoring Test Score
(IV) We know IV (DV)
affects DV
Unfortunately, an EV
that we are not
Parent Support
interested in might
(EV) also affect the DV
Confounding Variables
A confounding variable is an unmeasured third
variable that influences both the supposed cause and
the supposed effect.
Confounding variables are a type of extraneous
variable that are related to a study’s independent and
dependent variables. A variable must meet two
conditions to be a confounder:
It must be correlated with the independent
variable. This may be a causal relationship, but it
does not have to be.
It must be causally related to the dependent
variable.
Confounding Variables
Alcohol Consumption Mortality
(IV) We know IV (DV)
affects DV
Unmeasured
third variable that
influences both
the supposed
cause and the
supposed effect
Age, Sex, Education, Diet,
Exercise, Smoking, values, etc.
(CV)
Composite Variables
A composite variable is a variable created by
combining two or more individual variables, called
indicators, into a single variable. Composite
variables are used to measure multidimensional
concepts that are not easily observed
Using composite variables is a common practice for
controlling Type I error rate (e.g., when a sample size
is not sufficient for testing multiple comparisons),
addressing multicollinearity for regression analysis,
or organizing multiple highly correlated variables into
more digestible or meaningful information.
Composite Variables
Weight
Height
Health
(Composite Variable)
Blood
Pressure
VARIABLES AND TEST
Dependent Variables
1DV More than 1DV
Correlation, Regression,
Cross tab, Chi-square,
1IDV Hypothesis Testing
Independent Path Analysis, Systematic
Variables Equation Modelling (SEM)
More Multiple Regression,
than Multiple Discriminant
1IDV Analysis, n-way Anova
ANY QUESTIONS……??
