What are variables? How do they facilitate research.
Section: A.
Sociology Paper 2023 Analysis.
Relevant for Paper 1: Unit-3 Research Methods and Analysis
Question 2 (C): What are variables? How do they facilitate research?
(10 Marks)
|
Introduction: Briefly Explain What is Variable. Main Body: Role of Variables in Experimental Research. Conclusion: Significance in Operationalizing the Sociological Research. |
Introduction:
- Variables are characteristics or properties that can vary, such as age, gender, income, education, or any other attribute that can assume different values. They are used to test hypotheses, draw statistical inferences, and establish correlations between different social phenomena.
- Types of Variables: Variables can be classified into several types, including independent, dependent, intervening, and control variables.
- An independent variable is one that influences or causes changes in another variable, while a dependent variable is one that is influenced or changed.
- An intervening variable is a type of variable that changes the relationship between an independent and a dependent variable.
- A control variable, on the other hand, is one that is kept constant to eliminate its effect on the outcome.
Main body:
Role of Variables in Experimental Research
- There is a great deal of significance of variables in studying human behavior, social interactions, and social structures. They emphasize the need to identify and measure variables accurately to achieve reliable and valid results.
- Variables help in establishing relationships between different phenomena. For example, a sociologist might use the independent variable of educational level to predict the dependent variable of income level.
- Variables are important to research because they are the basic units of the information studied and interpreted in research studies. Researchers carefully analyse and interpret the value(s) of each variable to make sense of how things relate to each other in a descriptive study or what has happened in an experiment.
- Sociological researchers must operationalize variables by clearly defining and measuring them. This involves developing reliable and valid indicators or measures to capture the concept being studied. Operationalization helps ensure that variables are consistently and accurately assessed across different cases or individuals. By operationalizing variables, sociologists can define and measure the concepts they aim to study.
- For example, in a study on social capital, Lin (1999) operationalized the variable using measures of social networks, trust, and reciprocity.
- Control variables in sociological research are recognized for their role in mitigating the influence of confounding or extraneous factors on the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Researchers frequently incorporate control variables into their experimental designs to discern the true impact of the independent variable.
- In a study by Sampson et al. (1997), the researchers examined the relationship between collective efficacy and crime rates while controlling for variables such as poverty, residential instability, and racial composition.
- Experimental research in sociology aims to establish causal relationships between variables. Sociological thinkers emphasize the importance of rigorous research designs, such as randomized controlled trials, to establish causality. By manipulating the independent variable and randomly assigning participants to different conditions, researchers can make stronger claims about cause and effect.
- Durkheim used multi- variant analysis in his study of suicide to find causal analysis.
- Moreover, variables enable the measurement of concepts. By defining variables in measurable terms, researchers can collect data and analyse it to test hypotheses or theories. For example, a researcher might measure the variable of social class by using indicators such as income, occupation, and education.
- Finally, variables allow for the comparison of different groups or categories.
Weber’s study of Protestant ethics and Rise of capitalism.
Conclusion:
Variables are fundamental to experimental research in sociology. They allow sociologists to study and explain social phenomena systematically, examine cause-and-effect relationships, and generate knowledge about the social world. By operationalizing variables accurately and employing robust research designs, sociologists aim to contribute to our understanding of complex social processes and structures.
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