Psychology
Variables
In psychology, variables are attributes or characteristics that can vary and are measured or manipulated in research. They can be independent variables, which are manipulated to see their effect on dependent variables, or they can be participant characteristics that are measured to see their relationship with other variables. Understanding and controlling for variables is essential for conducting valid and reliable psychological research.
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11 Key excerpts on "Variables"
eBook - PDFExperimental Design and Statistics for Psychology
A First Course
- Fabio Sani, John Todman(Authors)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
THE NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY EXPERIMENTS (I): Variables AND CONDITIONS 17 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER • In an experiment, the things that are supposed to stand in a causal rela-tionship are called ‘Variables’, as the levels of these things are free to vary. • There exist two types of variable. A variable whose levels are predetermined (manipulated) by the researcher is called an ‘independent variable’ (IV). A variable whose levels depend on, or are affected by, variations in the IV is called a ‘dependent variable’ (DV). • Manipulating the IV implies assigning participants to two ‘conditions’ of the experiment, which differ in terms of the level of the IV to which par-ticipants are exposed. In the ‘experimental condition’ the researcher delib-erately alters the normal level of the IV, while in the ‘control condition’ no attempt is made to make any alteration. • Assessing variations in the levels of the DV requires devising a plausible indicator of the thing represented by the DV, and a precise way to measure the DV. • Most Variables may be used either as IVs or as DVs, depending on the nature of the experiment. However, some Variables, such as age, sex and ethni-city, cannot be used as DVs in experiments, because their levels cannot be affected by variations in the IV. CHAPTER THREE The Nature of Psychology Experiments (II): Validity In the previous chapter we discussed some core concepts in experimental psychology with the aid of an example of an experiment. In this fictitious experiment, we pro-pose to test the hypothesis that people who are in a good mood perform better on intellectual tasks than people who are in a neutral mood. To test this hypothesis, we create two conditions (with participants randomly assigned to these conditions), one in which a group of participants watch a movie excerpt with a funny content (the experimental condition) and one in which another group of participants watch an excerpt with an emotionally neutral content (the control condition).
No longer available |Learn more- Theresa White, Donald McBurney(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
C H A P T E R F I V E Variables PREVIEW This chapter introduces independent and dependent Variables and the different kinds of each. We continue to discuss how Variables are measured and the concepts of the reliability and validity of measurements. In Chapter 1, we discussed how scientists develop laws and theories to explain the phenomena they observe. To do this, we must move from general statements about broad classes of behavior to specific examples of that behavior. The phenomenon we want to study can be any event in all its complexity and variety. When we begin to study the event experimentally, however, we must strip away some of this complexity. Essentially, we take the phenomenon and turn it into one or more Variables. A variable is some aspect of a testing condition that can change or take on different characteristics with different conditions. Reducing a phenomenon to Variables focuses the researcher ’ s attention on specific events out of the many that may be related to the phenomenon. In the example of pain percep-tion discussed in Chapter 1, the phenomenon of interest was social pain. To study this phenomenon, it was necessary to designate certain classes of events as the Variables to be measured and to ignore other events. DeWall and his colleagues (2010) measured students ’ daily level of hurt feelings, daily level of positive emotions, and so forth. They recorded whether the students had variable: aspect of a testing condition that can change or take on different char-acteristics with different conditions 119 Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience.
No longer available |Learn more- Frederick J Gravetter; Lori-Ann B. Forzano; Tim Rakow, Frederick Gravetter, Frederick Gravetter, Lori-Ann Forzano, Tim Rakow(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
To evaluate differences or changes in Variables, it is essential that we are able to measure them. Thus, the next step in the research process (Step 3) is determining a method for defining and measuring the Variables that are being studied. Occasionally, a research study involves Variables that are well defined, easily observed and easily meas- ured. For example, a study of physical development might involve the Variables of height and weight. Both of these Variables are tangible, concrete attributes that can be observed and measured directly. On the other hand, some studies involve intangible, abstract attributes such as motivation or self-esteem. Such Variables are not directly observable, and the process of measuring them is more complicated. Theories and constructs In attempting to explain and predict behaviour, scientists and philosophers often develop theories that contain hypothetical mechanisms and intangible elements. Although these mechanisms and elements cannot be seen and are only assumed to exist, we accept them as real (or as if they were real) because they seem to describe and explain behaviours that we see. For example, a bright child does poor work in school because she has low ‘motivation’. A kindergarten teacher may hesitate to criticize a lazy child because it may injure the student’s ‘self-esteem’. But what is motivation, and how do we know that it is low? What about self-esteem? How do we recognize poor self-esteem or healthy self-esteem when we cannot see it in the first place? Many research Variables, particularly Variables of interest to behavioural scientists, are in fact hypothetical entities, which cannot directly be observed, which are created on the basis of conjecture, judgement, theory and inferences based on things that have been observed. Such Variables are called constructs or hypothetical constructs. DEFINITIONS In the behavioural sciences, a theory is a set of statements about the mechanisms underlying a particu- lar behaviour.
eBook - PDF- Dana S. Dunn(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Measurement is key. Some- times the choices we make do speak louder than words because they reflect our perceptions when we are not consciously monitoring our actions. This chapter is about dependent Variables, the value of which is dependent on the impact of the independent variable. Much of what we do—our behaviors and our self-reports—can be measured; these acts depend upon what is happening to us, including how we are feeling and thinking at a point in time. Dependent Variables show us “what happens” in an experiment or field study by illustrating how one group (or more) differs from a control condition. As we will see, like those red and blue pens, dependent Variables themselves are mostly silent—the social psychologist must make a case for why a given measure is sufficient for representing some meaningful psychological state. Behavioral Dependent Measures A dependent variable or measure is the variable that is not under the control of a researcher. Rather, the value of the dependent variable depends upon the reactions—thoughts, feelings, Measuring What Happens: Dependent Variables 199 actions—of the research participant to the independent variable. Where independent Variables must have at least two levels or conditions, dependent Variables are the same, that is, constant, across the number of conditions in a study. The value of the dependent variable as a measure of some outcome only changes based upon the influence of the independent variable. Behavioral dependent measures are used because they represent visible, external indicators of people’s psychological states. When two people spend the time together gazing into each others’ eyes, smiling genuine (or Duchenne) smiles (e.g., Frank, Ekman, & Friesen, 1993), and remaining physically close (e.g., Arkin & Burger, 1980), for example, a social psychologist can reasonably assume that these observable behaviors indicate friendship or interpersonal attraction.
eBook - PDFIndustrial and Organizational Psychology
Research and Practice
- Paul E. Spector(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
The best advice one can give a new researcher is to look to other people’s research for new hypotheses and research questions. The hypothesis and/or research question are the basis of a study, and in some ways are its most critical aspect. Without a specific and well-formulated question, it is diffi- cult to design a study that will adequately provide new insights. The question defines the objective of the study, as well as the phenomena of interest. When both are known, the researcher can design the study and choose the measurement techniques much more easily than when he or she has an imprecise idea of what he or she is trying to accomplish. Important Research Design Concepts The design of an investigation specifies the structure of the study. A large number of common designs are used in organizational research. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, so that no design is necessarily superior to the others. Before discussing the various types of designs, we will define several concepts that must be understood first. Variables Variables are the building blocks of a design. A variable is an attribute or character- istic of people or things that can vary (take on different values). People’s abilities 24 Chapter 2 Research Methods in I-O Psychology (e.g., intelligence), attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction), behavior (e.g., absence from work), and job performance (e.g., weekly sales) are all common Variables in organizational research. Every subject’s standing on each variable is quantified (converted to numbers) so that statistical methods can be applied. Variables can be classified into one of two types. In experiments, independent var- iables are those that are manipulated by the researcher, while dependent Variables are those that are assessed in response to the independent Variables. In other words, the independent Variables are assumed to be the cause of the dependent Variables.
eBook - PDFStatistics with Confidence
An Introduction for Psychologists
- Michael J Smithson(Author)
- 1999(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
Indicators that involve recording something about the real world are often called operationalizations of their respective constructs, and if we are convinced that one or more indicators truly represent everything about a construct, then we claim that they measure that construct. These two terms are important because they involve strong claims on the part of a researcher. Anyone who says they have operationalized a construct is claiming that they have a way of observing that construct's real-world manifestations, and if they further say they can measure the construct then they are claiming access to the totality of its real-world manifestations. DEFINITION DEFINITION A variable is an operationalization of a construct that can take on different values or states for different people (or even for the same person on different occasions). What is or is not a variable depends on the population being studied. If we are studying a group of 10-year-olds' reading ability, age is not a variable in that study. But if we are studying reading ability in children from an entire primary school, then age is a variable. Moreover, we must specify the conditions under which the construct can vary. Some constructs may change over time, or differ across people, or across situations for the same person. DEFINITION As with most other aspects of research, deciding what will be treated as a variable is a matter of judgment and may be controversial. Gender, for ex-ample, is not a variable for most people during their lives, but it can be (trans-sexuals are those whose gender has varied at least once). In most, but not all, research on people it is sensible to treat gender as varying across people but not over time for the same person. However, a current issue in the psychology of the self is the extent to which an individual's personality or self-concept can vary throughout one's lifetime or even ¯eetingly from one situation to another.
eBook - PDFResearch in Psychology
Methods and Design
- Kerri A. Goodwin, C. James Goodwin(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Anxiety could also be a factor that must be held constant in some experiments. For instance, if you wanted to evaluate the effects of a public speaking workshop on the ability of students to deliver a brief speech, you wouldn’t want to video the students in one group without doing so in the other group as well. If everyone is videoed, then the level of anxiety created by that factor (video recording) is held constant for everyone. Finally, anxiety could be a dependent variable in a study of the effects of different types of exams (e.g., multiple choice versus essay) on the perceived test anxiety of students during final exam week. Some physiological measures of anxiety might be used in this case. Anxiety could also be considered a personality characteristic, with some people characteristically having more of it than others. This last possibility leads to our next topic. Subject Variables Up to this point, the term independent variable has meant a factor directly manipulated by the researcher. An experiment compares one condition created by and under the control of the experi- menter with another. However, in many studies, comparisons are made between groups of people who differ from each other in ways other than those directly manipulated by the researcher. Factors that are not directly manipulated by an experimenter are referred to variously as ex post 1. In a study of the effects of problem difficulty (easy or hard) and reward size ($1 or $5 for each solution) on an anagram problem‐solving task, what are the independent and dependent Variables? 2. What are extraneous Variables and what happens if they are not controlled properly? 3. Explain how frustration could be an independent, extraneous, or dependent variable, depending on the study. S ELF T EST 5.1 INTRODUCTION TO EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH 138 facto Variables, natural group Variables, participant Variables, or subject Variables, which will be our focus here.
- Jay E. Gould(Author)
- 2001(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
∞ In essence, operational definitions of Variables are sets of instructions for carrying out research, e.g., experiments. • They are statements of the operating procedures . • They tell scientists how to produce, manipulate, and measure both conceptual intervening Variables and concrete independent and dependent Variables. Example: To study the effects of daily exercise on improving the mind , how would one possibly conduct such research without operationally defining these Variables? Also, note how changing the definitions of Variables might sig-nificantly modify the study and thereby possibly change the findings. Example: By exercise do we mean weight lifting, or aerobics, such as jogging or swimming? Furthermore, there are many different ways that could be devised for measuring the concept of mind . — Thoroughness of definitions and complexity of constructs/Variables • It isn’t always necessary to state in research reports complete operational definitions for every concept/phenomena, because many have standard operational definitions that can be referenced. ∞ New concepts, processes, and techniques , however, require very precise and thorough operational definitions so that they have clear, empirical meaning and are repeatable and public. ∞ Research problems and hypotheses are often stated in very general terms in the Introduction of a research report, and then the terms are given specific operational meaning in the Method -section of the paper through descriptions of the materials, apparatus, and procedures of the study. • It should be noted that if a significant effect of the independent-variable manipulation is found, then the data directly support the hypothesis in just the limited sense that it was operationally defined — support for the general hypothesis is only indirect, i.e., a gen-eralization .
eBook - PDF- Nancy Ogden, Michael Boyes, Evelyn Field, Ronald Comer, Elizabeth Gould(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Notice in the way you state your hypothesis that you are saying that one thing results in another thing. The two things are called Variables. A variable is a condition or event or situation—it can really be many things. In psychological research a condition or event that is thought to be a factor in changing another condition or event is known as an independent variable. We call it the independent variable because it is the one the researcher carefully sets and controls the level of to see what changes it will cause through its independent actions on other Variables. In this study, playing or not playing a violent video game such as Call of Duty is an independent variable. A researcher could also change the nature of this variable to see how it affects aggressive behaviour. Aggressive behaviour (we could look at physical aggression or verbal aggressiveness) would be a dependent variable, the condition or event you expect to change as a result of varying the independent variable. It is the dependent variable because if our hypothesis is correct, then people’s scores on this variable will “depend” on their specific exposure to the independent variable. How about another example? If you wanted to see if drinking an energy drink would help you read more pages of your textbook in an hour of studying, you could read for an hour with- out any energy drink, drink one energy drink and read for an hour, then drink a second energy drink and read for another hour. You could count the number of pages you read in each of the 3 hours. So in this study, what is the independent variable? (It is the amount of energy drink con- sumed.) What is the dependent variable? (If you thought “pages read,” you are right.) Of course, just counting pages read tells you nothing about how well you have read them or what you will recall later from what you have read as you write the exam.
No longer available |Learn more- Puncky Heppner, Bruce Wampold, Jesse Owen, Thompson, Puncky Heppner, Bruce Wampold, Jesse Owen, Mindy N. Thompson(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
She examined students’ scores on the final exam and self-reported multicultural competencies (e.g., knowledge, skills, and awareness) to determine if her teaching method was successful. The most important point is, in experimental designs, the conditions of the independent variable are determined by the researcher. This determination is often referred to as the experimental manipulation, because the researcher essentially manipulates the independent variable to determine what effect it has on the depen-dent variable. In this way, the independent variable is related to the cause, and the dependent variable is related to the effect. Adequately Reflecting the Constructs of Interest It is important that the independent variable be designed to reflect the construct(s) designated as causal in the research question. That is to say, the independent variable should be adequately defined or operationalized (see Chapter 5). For example, if the researcher would like to know whether cognitive-behavioral treat-ment is more effective than no treatment for participants who are diagnosed with social anxiety, then it would be important to adequately define what cognitive-behavioral treatment is as well as define what no treatment actually is. Although the answer to these questions may seem obvious, defining these constructs in theory is different than what they can look like in the real world (see Baardseth et al., 2012). Extending this example, if some participants in the no-treatment con-dition received medication for their social anxiety, but did not receive cognitive- behavioral treatment, would they truly qualify as receiving no treatment? Simply, if the causal construct is inadequately defined, alternative explanations for the results can be offered; these alternatives are potential confounds. In this chapter we indicate how problems associated with potential confounds can be minimized or eliminated.
- Clyde Hendrick, Russell A. Jones(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
Testing the alternative requires varying the experimental conditions in such a way that both the original results and some new results can be produced. All experi-ments are susceptible to alternative interpretations. The very nature of empirical operations almost ensures that this will be the case. Concrete operations vary many things, only one of which will be the crucial inde-pendent variable. The main consideration is whether or not these other potential Variables are important, whether they could have accounted for the obtained results. The skill of the experimentalist lies in minimizing the potential impact of other (presumably irrelevant) aspects of the situation rather than ruling them out completely. One possibility is that if some (supposedly irrelevant) aspect of the procedure might make a difference, this aspect should be varied independently of the main inde-pendent variable. In a sense, the experiment is then concerned with the effects of two independent Variables on one dependent variable. In fact, we may vary not two, but several independent Variables. We turn now to consideration of multiple independent Variables in an experiment. Multiple Independent Variables Let us assume that our hypothesis frustration leads to aggression has received strong experimental confirmation. If, then, in everyday life we observe an act of aggression, can we infer that the person was frus-trated? Not at all. The hypothesis merely stated that frustration leads to aggression. It did not deny that other independent Variables may lead to aggression as well. There may be a whole host of other such Variables. If we can identify other Variables that also lead to aggression, we can de-sign a much more powerful experiment if we vary these other Variables as well. In our experiment we had four levels of frustration. At a mini-mum we must have two levels. These will be designated low and high or, perhaps, absent and present.
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