Sample Solution Set/Extra Examples of "Identifying Variables and Their Labels in Research Questions"

This business of identifying "what are my variables and how should they 'best' be labelled" is one of those 'gloriously messy/tricky real-world chores' that invariably confront every researcher! For example, for the variable 'income' (I'm just making this up!), do I as the researcher need the information 'as finely' as "in precise dollars and cents?" Or will ranges be OK: 1) "Under $10,000; 2) $10,001 to $20,000; 3) $20,001 to $30,000," etc.! Oftentimes, there is 'no single best' or 'right or wrong answer' too!

I wondered if a 'sample solution set' would be helpful! I've made up some research questions and will illustrate what the variables are and what the labels should be - hope the following are helpful:

Descriptive Question: "What are the primary barriers to successful delivery of courses by modem?"

The single target outcome variable here would be "barriers to successful modem course delivery:" what we are trying to find out about - our 'goal' for the descriptive study!

Correlational Question: "What is the relationship between prior exposure to computer use and propensity to enroll in modem courses?"

There will be 2 main variables in this correlational question, and they are the ones being related or associated:

1) Predictor Variable: The one that "came first:" "prior exposure to computer use" and
2) Criterion Variable: The one that 'came after' and is being forecasted from the first one: "propensity to enroll in modem courses"

There could be lots of 'confounding' variables for this example -- uncontrolled variables that 'get in the way' and can 'markedly influence' the seemingly simple relationship between the 2 variables above! They could include: whether or not you have a computer in your home; whether or not your friends/family like and use computers; availability of modem courses; age; gender; area of major; etc.!

Experimental Question: "What is the effect of daily practice in a computer lab on performance in courses by modem?"

Here we would envision two major types of variables:

Independent Variable: the one that 'came first' and is used to form the groups -- maybe an overall 'umbrella' label like "Method of Instruction in Courses by Modem" -- and there would be the following two groups (we also call them "levels" of the independent variable): Group 1: Those who get the daily lab session - we call this the 'experimental' or 'treatment' group; and Group 2: Those who don't get the daily lab session - but instead the 'usual' method of instruction - we call this the 'control' or 'comparison' group!

Then we try and 'keep constant' as many other factors or contaminants as possible -- admittedly messy to do in the real world we live in! or "life is not a sterile laboratory," thank goodness! such as "what is taught; in what order; experience of teacher; year in school of the students:' etc., and then we compare at the end to see if the two groups differed on average:

Dependent variable: the one that "came after" and the one that we would expect to be 'affected by' which group the subjects were in! That would be "performance in modem courses" (however it is measured; for instance, an aptitude or achievement test - same test given to both groups at the end)!

Evaluation Question: Could be same as for Experimental; or an evaluation question which might take place in a non-experimental setting might be something like this: "What is the impact of group assignments on performance in modem courses?";

For this one, maybe the students got to pick whether or not they worked in groups, so we don't in this case have the 'tight control' that we would in an experimental study. Maybe it is even the case, such as for our own Intro to Research class, that *all* of the students work in groups! So it's not 'experimental,' but still we want to 'assess the impact' or 'evaluate' how group work impacts performance in modem courses!

Independent variable: came first: Assignment to group work; Dependent variable: came after - the 'target outcome' which we think or expect will be 'impacted by' the group work: which would be 'performance in modem courses (as for experimental question, however it is measured -- i.e., letter grade; score on standardized test; etc. -- lots of leeway here!)

Go on to Assignment 3-1-2
or
Go back to Understanding Variables

E-mail Bob Stuckenschneider at bstucken@sdcoe.k12.ca.us

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