A Student's Guide to the Classification and Operationalization of Variables in the Conceptualization and Design of a Clinical Study: Part 1.

Students without prior research experience may not know how to conceptualize and design a study. This article explains how an understanding of the classification and operationalization of variables is the key to the process. Variables describe aspects of the sample that is under study; they are so called because they vary in value from subject to subject in the sample. Variables may be independent or dependent. Independent variables influence the value of other variables; dependent variables are influenced in value by other variables. A hypothesis states an expected relationship between variables. A significant relationship between an independent and dependent variable does not prove cause and effect; the relationship may partly or wholly be explained by one or more confounding variables. Variables need to be operationalized; that is, defined in a way that permits their accurate measurement. These and other concepts are explained with the help of clinically relevant examples.

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© 2021 Indian Psychiatric Society - South Zonal Branch.

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Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.