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Give me essay relating to definition, significance, nature, and examples of scientific variables
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##Executive Summary
The essay discusses the definition, significance, nature, and examples of scientific variables. Scientific variables are empirical phenomena that take on different values or intensities according to different factors. They are key to any research as they provide the data that is used to analyze behavioral patterns and, therefore, are very important for any research.
#Scientific Variable: Definition, Significance, Nature and Examples Essay
The Phenomenon of a Scientific Variable: Definition
An integral part of any research, a scientific variable is not that easy to define. Granted that there are many ways to explain its purpose in a research, the existing definitions are rather vague. For example, there is a description of a scientific variable provided by Ellis, Harley, and Walsh; according to the authors, the given phenomenon is the key to any research: “Variables are empirical phenomena that take on different values or intensities” (Ellis, Harley & Walsh, 2010, p. 27). In addition, the angle from which a scientific variable is defined form matters considerably. There are operational definitions, which focus on the functions of a variable; conceptual ones, which are based on its nature, etc. However, even as the definitions of general research components go, the given one is outstandingly vague.
Much to Ellis, Harley, and Walsh’s credit, though, it should be mentioned that they do try to expand on the definition that they provide and give a better explanation of what a scientific variable is. For instance, it is remarkable that the researchers oppose the concept of the variable to that one of a constant, making it clear that the tendency to change depending on various factors is the key specifics of a variable. Therefore, the authors allow narrowing the definition down a bit by stating that a variable is linked to a particular set of factors, which predetermine its value.
Furthermore, the study conducted by Ellis, Harley and Walsh reveals that, when applied to criminology specifically, a scientific variable is tied in with a range of social factors and, in fact, becomes a social variable. Thus, planting the tern in question into a particular environment, Ellis, Harley and Walsh help specify the details of a scientific variable. It must be admitted that in criminology, the seemingly vague phenomenon takes rather clear shapes, therefore, helping to coin an even more precise definition. From what Ellis, Harley and Walsh say, in criminology, a scientific variable is a particular characteristic, or a set of characteristics, of a certain person, which helps analyze the given person’s behavioral patterns and, therefore, acquire crucial information for a particular investigation.
Nature of a Scientific Variable and Its Examples
Much like the definition of a scientific variable, its nature is not that easy to nail down. Ellis, Harley and Walsh are quite vague on the nature of a scientific variable, much like they are vague on defining the phenomenon in general. However, judging by the explanations that the authors give, scientific variable stems from different aspects of people’s social. In other words, society defines scientific variables.
The process of searching for the nature of a scientific variable is even more complicated by the fact that there are a number of types of variables used in research. According to what Ellis, Harley and Walsh say, variables fall into four key categories, which are social instructional, demographical, behavior and personality, and cognitive variables. However, the former falls into two categories, which are artifactual cultural variables and customary cultural variables. (Ellis, Harley & Walsh, 2010, p. 29). To display the full array of meanings that a scientific variable can take, one will have to provide an example to each of the types listed above.
Demographic variables are related to the specifics of a particular group of people or a human population in general, as one might have guessed. These include such characteristics as age, gender, etc. For example, a particular group of people aged between 11 and 87 can be split into eight key categories, i.e., girls (aged 11–17), boys (aged 11–17), young men (aged 18–25), young women (aged 18–25), adult men (aged 26–50), adult women (aged 26–50), elderly women (aged 51–87) and elderly men (aged 51–87).
In their turn, social instructional variables are related to the social status or background of a particular person or a group of people, as Ellis, Harley and Walsh explain. To find a good example of social instructional variables for a sociological research, one may take a look at the people that work or study at literally any school. In each of these schools, there will be at least one person that represents the lower class (e.g., a janitor) and middle class (e.g., the majority of students and teachers). Even the upper class will be, probably, represented by some of the students whose parents have excelled in their business career. Likewise, the staff of any company can be taken into account to have a full list of class oriented variables (Maxfield & Babbie, 2011, p. 83).
The next kind of scientific variables on the list, social instructional ones fall into three key categories as stated above. Artifactual cultural variables can be defined as the materialistic elements of people’s culture, such as print forms of media. While created to represent objective opinions and provide honest descriptions of the world political and economical situation, media in each country bears distinct feature that allow locating its origin almost immediately. For instance, the political preferences and prejudices of the population of a particular country can define the specifics of the local media, which, in its turn, becomes an artifactual cultural variable.
Customary cultural variables, in their turn, are related to non-materialistic elements of a particular culture; to be more exact, these are “values and practices” (Ellis, Harley & Walsh, 2010, p. 29), which are traditionally accepted in a particular society. To provide an example of the given type of variables, one should consider present-day industries. The theories and practical instructions on using a particular tool, from a hammer to a grain harvester combine, can be seen as the practices that people have mastered and, thus, perfect and pass them on to other generations to improve these theories ever since.
The variable denoted as behavior and personality by Ellis, Harley and Walsh (Ellis, Harley & Walsh, 2010, p. 29) can be exemplified by considering the behavioral patterns that people may take in specific setting. For example, in a team of people that can be defined as business partners, the members can be assigned with such roles as the leader, the leader’s assistant, the person dealing with the financial aspects of the venture, etc.
Finally, the cognitive variable must be mentioned as an important part of the set of scientific variables. According to what Ellis, Harley and Walsh say, cognitive variables are represented by the palette of emotions that people can feel. Therefore, the change in emotions of a particular person during the day can be considered an example of a cognitive variable.