The student must then post 1 reply to another student’s post. The reply must summarize the student’s findings and indicate areas of agreement, disagreement, and improvement. It must be sup

Mary Alyce Carden

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Question D1.1. Active Independent Variable and Attribute Independent Variable

There are two types of independent variables, active and attribute. (Morgan, et al., 2020, p. 2) When reviewing the results of a study it is important to differentiate between the two.

Active Independent Variable

An active independent variable is sometimes called a manipulated independent variable. Our text suggests that this type of variable may be a workshop, curriculum, or other intervention occurring during the period of the study. Another way of saying this is a condition that is applied to the participants. This is not given or manipulated by the experimenter but by a clinic, school or investigator. From the participant’s point of view the situation is manipulated. To be an active independent variable, the condition or treatment should be added after the study is planned and w with a pretest (Morgan, et al.).

Attribute Independent Variable

An attribute independent variable is sometimes called a measured independent variable.   This is an independent variable that cannot be manipulated and is a major focus of the study. This variable is either preexisting or is a part of their environment and not changed during the study. Our text gives several examples of an attribute independent variable as age, ethnic group and IQ (Morgan, et al.).

Similarities and Differences

One way the active independent variable and the attribute independent variable are different is that the active is manipulated where the attribute independent variable is not. Another is that attribute independent variable is a major focus of the study where the attribute independent variable is not. One way that both the active independent variable and the attribute independent variable are similar is that they both vary in value over time or do not have a constant value and why they are called variables (Morgan, et al.).

D1.2. Independent Variable and Infer Cause

            One goal of scientific research is to identify causal relationship between two variables or one that causes something to happen in another. An active independent variable is necessary but not a sufficient condition to make cause and effect conclusions (Morgan, et al., 2020, p.2-3). “Only the approaches that have an active independent variable (randomized experimental and, to a lesser extent, quasi-experimental) can provide data that allow one to infer the independent variable caused the change or difference in the dependent variable” (Morgan et al., p.3).

The term nonexperimental is used when referring to attribute independent variables and randomized experimental and quasi-experimental studies refer to active independent variables.  Nonexperimental studies are limited to what can be considered as causation (Morgan et al., p.2).

D1.3. Differences between Independent Variables and the Dependent Variables

A dependent variable is what is used to measure or assess the effect of the independent variable.   A dependent variable is the result of the independent variable. Morgan et al. (p. 4) gives several examples of dependent variables such as test scores and questionnaire ratings. Additionally, the dependent must have at least two values. Another way of explaining the difference is that the dependent variable is the outcome of the study, where the independent variables are the factors that affect the outcome.

D1.4. Compare and Contrast Types of Research Questions

Associational Research Questions 

Associational type research questions relate two or more variables by comparing how two or more variables covary. An example from our text is if one participant increases in one area is she likely to increase or decrease in another. The associational question may ask the question how variables enable one to predict another variable. The association questions relate the independent and dependent variables to each other.

Difference Research Questions

            The difference type research questions compare different groups or variables derived from independent variables. Each group is composed of individuals with one of the values or levels of the independent variable. The question attempts to demonstrate that the groups are not the same on the independent variable.

Descriptive Research Questions     

Descriptive type research questions are not answered with inferential statistics. The descriptive type of research questions describes or summarizes data for the sample studies without trying to generalize to a larger population of individuals. The descriptive research questions attempt to provide a description of the variable.

Compare and Contrast       

The table (Fig 1.1), in our text (Morgan et al., 2020, p.6-7) gives a great visual representation of the three types of research questions. The difference and associational both explore relationships between the variables. The difference compares groups, where the associational finds strength of associations and how the variables relate. Simply, the difference questions may ask if one group differs from another in the way the questions are answered. With associational, will one value be associated with another (either positive or negative.)  The description type questions summarize the data, and central tendency or percentages. The question focuses on a single variable. The example given in the text on description question was “What percentage of students get a B or above?”

D1.5. Research Question and Corresponding Hypothesis

Descriptive Research Question

What percentage of entry level accounts make over $75,000 in a regional survey?

Descriptive Research Hypothesis

The average annual salary for entry level accountants in the regional survey that made over $75,000 was 30%.

D1.6. HSB Variables Questions

Association Question

Do the non-religious (3) participants on average score higher (over 40) on the mosaic pattern test than Protestants (1)?

Difference question

Do participants that score well on the mosaic pattern test score also do well on the visualization test? 

Descriptive question

What percentage of students were not religious (religion = 3)?

References

Morgan, G. A., Barrett, K. C., Leech, N. L., & Gloeckner, G. W. (2020). IBM SPSS for introductory statistics: Use and interpretation. Routledge, Taylor et Francis Group.

  Author Note

Kranthi Karing

      Discussion Thread: Variables, Research Questions and Data Coding

D1.1. Compare the terms active independent variable and attribute independent variable. What are the similarities and differences?

         Active independent variables are manipulated by the researcher, while attribute independent variables are characteristics inherent to participants (Maxwell, 2013). Both types can affect the dependent variable, but active variables are deliberately changed in an experiment, whereas attribute variables are observed as they naturally occur (Harris, 2018).

D1.2. What kind of independent variable (active or attribute) is necessary to infer cause? Can one always infer cause from this type of independent variable? If so, why? If not, when can one infer cause and when might causal inferences be more questionable?

       Active independent variables are necessary to infer cause because they can be manipulated to observe changes in the dependent variable. However, causal inferences are not always guaranteed even with active variables. While manipulating an active variable allows for stronger causal claims, confounding variables and extraneous factors can still influence results, making causal inferences more questionable.

D1.3. What is the difference between the independent variable and the dependent variable?

         The independent variable is the variable manipulated or controlled by the researcher, while the dependent variable is the outcome measured in response to changes in the independent variable.

D1.4. Compare and contrast associational, difference, and descriptive types of research questions.

          Associational research questions explore relationships between variables without implying causality. Difference research questions examine differences between groups or conditions. Descriptive research questions seek to describe characteristics or phenomena. While associational and difference questions can imply causality, descriptive questions typically do not.

D1.5. Write a research question and a corresponding hypothesis regarding variables of interest to you but not in the HSB dataset. Is it an associational, difference, or descriptive question?

       Research question: Does sleep duration affect academic performance in college students?

Hypothesis: Students who sleep longer hours will have higher GPAs than those who sleep fewer hours.

This is an associational question because it explores the relationship between sleep duration and academic performance without implying causality.

D1.6. Using one or more of the following HSB variables, religion, mosaic pattern test, and visualization score

a.) Write an associational question.

Associational question: Is there a relationship between religion and performance on the mosaic pattern test?

b.) Write a difference question.

Difference question: Are there differences in visualization scores between participants of different religions?

c.) Write a descriptive question.

Descriptive question: What is the average score on the mosaic pattern test for participants of different religions?

                                                         References

Harris, R. (2018). Designing and reporting experiments. In R. Harris (Ed.),  A Student's Guide to

              Conducting Psychological Research (pp. 71-88). Cambridge University Press.

Maxwell, S. E. (2013). Active versus attribute independent variables. In S. E. Maxwell (Ed.),

               Designing Experiments and Analyzing Data: A Model Comparison Perspective (3rd ed.,

1. 95-112). Routledge.

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