Research variables in psychology

In each of the physical and psychological phenomena that we observe, different variables participate, also with different roles. Research variables in psychology play an important role in approaching a deeper understanding of the human mind and behavior.

Regardless of the approach, for any investigation It is very important – whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed – to identify and operationalize the measurement of the variables. that are going to be studied. But what are variables and how are they classified? Let’s dig deeper.

Variables help operationalize concepts.

What are research variables in psychology?

Variables are the properties of an object or phenomenon that can change and whose variations can be measured.. For example, gender, age, blood pressure, body weight, personality, climate. Thus, every variable is related to a condition that can be modified that can vary in terms of quantity and quality.

The term variable is applied to any living being (person, animal, plant), object, facts and phenomena, which assume different values ​​depending on the variable to which they are associated. For example, through the intelligence variable it is possible to classify people according to their level of intelligence. Not all people have the same intelligence, that is, they vary in terms of their level.

Research variables in psychology have the following functions:

They designate distinguishable aspects of an object or phenomenon of study. They analyze the distribution of a population. They formulate descriptive, explanatory or predictive relationships. They reveal something about behavior.

The relevance of research variables in psychology is that help operationalize concepts for the data collection phase. For a variable to be considered “good”, it must have some properties such as: good reliability and validity, low bias, practicality, low cost, clarity and acceptance.

In any research it is necessary that each of the variables to be studied be delimited and that these two aspects be taken into account: the conceptual definition and the operational definition. The first refers to how said variable is defined, that is, what its meaning is. In contrast, the operational or operational definition refers to the way in which the variable will be measured or observed.

Classification of research variables in psychology

There are different types of variables that can be classified according to their nature, complexity, function or relationship and level of measurement (Carballo and Guelmes, 2016).

According to its nature

The variables can be qualitative or quantitative.

Quantitative: are those that are capable of being measured or counted. For example, weight, height, age.Qualitative: Are the that represent an attribute or quality of something or someone. For example, skin type, bird color, marital status (single, married, divorced, widowed).

Quantitative variables can be classified into:

Continuous: they can take infinite values ​​within a certain range. For example, the time to travel a distance on a road, the length of an object.Discrete: are those that have a defined number of values. For example, the number of complaints from a customer, the number of employees in a company, the number of children in a couple.

According to its complexity

The variables according to their complexity can be:

Simple: are those that are expressed through an indicator. They cannot be decomposed. For example, the price of a car, the sex of a person, the age.Complex: They are those that can be decomposed into several indicators or dimensions. For example, a person’s attitude (attitude to work, attitude to politics, etc.), temperature.

Depending on the measurement level

In correspondence with this classification, the variables can be:

Ordinals: They are qualitative variables that They have two or more categories and there is an order between them. For example, level of education, socioeconomic level, position held in a sports competition (first, second, third, fourth…).Nominals: They are qualitative variables that They have two or more categories, but they have no order. These variables can be dichotomous, that is, they have two categories, for example, sex (male or female). They can also be polytomous, that is, they have more than two categories, for example, cell phone brands, sexual orientation.Interval: are variables whose central property is that they can measure along a continuum. The difference between two values ​​is of constant size and there is no absolute 0. For example, IQ.Of reason: are interval variables, but with the condition that 0 indicates that none of that variable exists. For example, mass, weight, distance, speed.

In all research it is necessary to identify the variables that are intended to be analyzed.

According to its function

Research variables in psychology can be, depending on their function:

Independents: They are those that the researcher manipulates. For example, the type of intervention to which different groups of people are subjected.Dependents: They are those in which the research measures variations. Some variations that you will later associate with the variations in the independent variable.Participants: They are those variables that can interact on the dependent one. For example, the anxiolytic medication consumed by the group of patients with anxiety.Foreign: They are those that can affect both the dependent and independent variables. For example, hereditary factors associated with anxiety.

To finish, research variables in psychology can be of different types depending on the criteria with which we want to classify them. Each of them allows the research psychologist to study, describe, understand and explain reality from certain perspectives.. Although the variables have unique properties that differentiate them from the others, they are all intimately linked by a central factor: change.

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