SOCI - Sociology SOCI 4306 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Confounding, Vitamin A, Dependent And Independent Variables
22 Oct 2019
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LECTURE 7
RESEARCH DESIGNS
Variable is a noun now not an adjective it represents a class of effects and it could take more than one value. Hair
coloration is a variable pink, black, white, grey and so on.
Types of Variables
1. Dependent variable (final results, result, effect, and criterion) is a variable that indicates that whether the
manipulation of the unbiased variable had an effect.
2. Independent variable (treatment, thing, and predictor) is a variable this is manipulated to examine its impact
on a dependent variable.
3. Confounding variable (extraneous, threatening) is a variable this is associated with independent or dependent
but not a supposed part of observe.
Example: vitamin A impacts vision of topics. Vitamin A unbiased variable Vision structured variable Food
confounding variable Rich in Vitamin A.
Hypothesis is an educated guess, a studies idea: Hypothesis tells us how or greater variables are related to each
different. Research technique starts off evolved by producing speculation.
Hypothesis Generation
a) By observation – Keen remark
b) By reading preceding researches.
c) By refuting an old present concept associated with a phenomenon or develops your own concept.
Characteristics of hypotheses
a) Make it testable.
b) Make it supportable.
c) Be positive to have a rational- how principle can assist.
d) Demonstrate its relevance –how it could resolve a realistic trouble.
When making a decision how you need to test your speculation you have got a research layout / plan
a. What may be your pattern? How the pattern might be decided on? What will be the sample length?
b. Instruments / tools / questionnaires to be used
c. Statistical checks to use
Research design consists of factors which you want to measure within the human beings (you’re analyzing that is
structured variable) and its effect on human being’s behavior (i.e. Impartial variable).
Example: Vitamin A influences (or results) the eye sight of difficulty. Vitamin A is independent variable. Eye Sight
relies variable. Research Design Two groups with equal number of subjects that are equally matched on all
characteristics are randomly selected.
1. One is experimental organization
2. The other is control organization
The handiest difference among experimented and the control institution is that of treatment. The experimental
institution is exposed or given diet A, at the same time as the control institution does no longer get any Vitamin A. So
if the attention sight or vision of the experimental group improves or is better than control group then it's far attributed
to what? It is because of Vitamin A.
• Internal validity is the extent to which a researcher can be confident that the independent variable is
influencing or is causing the structured variable.
• Confounding variables or extraneous
• It is anything happening in a look at that makes the results uninterruptible that pollute or contaminate the
effects. If the experimental organization changed into ingesting weight loss program rich in Vitamin A, or a
number of carrots, that advanced their vision. So some of these are confounding variables for our studies
because then unbiased variable will now not be responsible for bringing changes in structured variable i.e.
The Vitamin A dosage administered to the experimental group subjects in laboratory will now not be the
handiest issue so that you can alternate or influence the vision or eye sight of the topics.
Dependent variable / Independent variable
• Variables are elements which are linked together in shape of speculation. The first variable depends variable.
Dependent variables are factors or factors of the study which are stimulated by independent variable and they
may be anticipated to alternate. Independent variable is that factor this is being manipulated or controlled
and thought to trade the structured variable. In the above cited take a look at, Vitamin A is the impartial
variable that is various or given to experimental institution but no longer to the manage institution. While
structured variable is eye sight of the concern. So it is Vitamin A that is the impartial variable liable for
bringing alternate in the dependent variable i.e. Eye sight of the challenge.
Internal Validity / External Validity
• Internal validity is the quantity to which ends can be attributed to independent variable. A look at that is not
open to alternative causes of the effects is set to be internally valid and it's far free of confounding elements
or variables. A confounding aspect is that, which may have affected the established or impartial variable.
When a confounding variable is present, the researcher or the investigator cannot understand, whether or not
it is the unbiased variable or another confounding variable accountable for the outcomes.
• External Validity of a look at in internal validity of the have a look at, we cognizance only at the consequences
of the look at that may be attributed to the impartial variable. While in external validity we need the effects
to use to human beings / samples aside from the subjects of the look at or we want to generalize the
consequences to the opposite settings. That is, if one institution of subjects suffers from depression because
of demise of a cherished one, we want the same effects to be implemented to different samples of the populace
as nicely. So inner validity and external validity are operating in competition to each other.
• Statistical Significance / Clinical Significance. Statistics is a part of psychology, in mental effects; statistical
importance method that the opportunity of acquiring the found outcomes by using chance is small. But it's
far important to understand the distinction between statistical and medical importance.
•
Example:
• Consider a set of adults, who're mentally retarded and they're worried in self-injurious behavior of hitting or
slapping themselves.
• Suppose we are to strive a new drug remedy for the self-injurious behavior of adults with intellectual
retardation.
• We examined one organization that receive remedy and a 2d group that received a placebo (an empty sugar
lined pill).
• To research whether the brand new drug diminished or decreased self-damage, we use a rating scale to assess
how often topics hit themselves.
• At the start of the take a look at, all of the subjects hit themselves a mean of ten times in keeping with day.
• At the cease of the have a look at, we located through the rankings on the score scale that the group on the
medicine acquired decrease rankings or hit themselves less quantity of times then the untreated group.
• So we can conclude that the results are statistically sizable.
• Statistical significance relies upon on size of the effect, while you study the folks who had been rated as
improved.
• You discover that they still hit themselves about six instances per day.
