In research, variables are characteristics or attributes that can take on different values and are used to understand the relationships between different factors and make predictions about future outcomes. Variables can be people, places, things, or phenomena that researchers observe, manipulate, or control to study their effects on other variables or outcomes of interest.
There are two main types of variables in research:
-
Independent variables: These are the variables that are manipulated by the researcher and are considered the cause in a cause-and-effect relationship. The value of an independent variable is independent of other variables in the study. For example, in a study investigating the effects of a new drug on patient outcomes, the independent variable would be the administration of the drug.
-
Dependent variables: These are the variables that are measured as outcomes of the study and are considered the effect in a cause-and-effect relationship. Dependent variables are dependent on other variables in the study and are often measured after other variables are altered. In the example of the study on the effects of a new drug, the dependent variable would be the patients response to the drug.
Researchers use variables to describe and measure the items, places, people, or ideas they are studying. Variables are important because they are the basic units of information that are studied and interpreted in research studies. By carefully analyzing and interpreting the values of each variable, researchers can make sense of how things are related and understand the factors that influence outcomes of interest.
