A researcher wishes to operationalize her study variables in the following manner. How
might she go about doing so? Summarize your responses in tabular form (see example
below), and supplement your table with a supporting narrative.
Age (continuous)
Gender (dichotomous)
Ethnicity (categorical)
Education (ordinal)
Income (continuous)
Marital status (categorical)
Weight (continuous)
Blood pressure (continuous)
Hypertension (dichotomous)
Body temperature (continuous)
Health insurance status (categorical)
Smoking status (dichotomous)
Cancer Stage (ordinal)
Assignment Expectations:
You are expected to incorporate relevant background readings into your responses.
Your paper should be written in your own words. This will enable me to assess your level
of understanding.
In order to earn full credit, you must clearly show that you have read ALL required
background materials.
Be sure to cite your references in the text of all papers and on the reference list at the end.
For examples, look at the way the references are listed in the modules and on the
background reading list.
Proofread your paper to be sure grammar and punctuation are correct and that each part
of the assignment has been address clearly and completely.
Length: 2-3 pages typed, double-spaced.
RESEARCH METHODS 2
Research Methods
Operationalization of Variables
Variable Name Type Operationalization
Age continuous How old were you on your last birthday?
Gender dichotomous State your Gender
Ethnicity Categorical From what ethnic group do you belong?
Education Ordinary What is your highest education level
Income continuous Please indicate your average monthly income
Marital Status Categorical Please indicate your marital status
Weight continuous Please indicate your average weight
Blood Pressure continuous Measured after giving speech
Hypertension dichotomous Do you a history of Hypertension
Body temperature continuous What is the degree of your body temperature?
Health insurance categorical Do you have a health insurance?
Smoking status dichotomous Do you smoke?
Cancer ordinal Do you have a history of cancer?
Age: How old were you on your last birthday?
The age variable is also considered as the subject, or participant variable (Borgatti, 2009).
In measuring age in this manner, a researcher will require that the respondent indicate the age he
or she turned on the last birthday. On the other hand, the researcher will provide different age
RESEARCH METHODS 3
categories where the respondent will be able to indicate his or her category. From the age
categories indicated, the researcher will be able to determine the age of the respondent. These
age categories may be indicated as 18- 25 years, 25- 35 years, 35 to 45 years, 45-65 years, 65
and over. This method is suitable because there are some respondents who will not find it
comfortable to directly state their ages. Therefore, the researcher should avoid such a direct
question.
Gender: Please indicate your gender
Sex or gender in research is considered as a dichotomous variable. Respondents will be
asked to indicate or state whether they are male or female. From there, the researcher will then
quantify the number of males and females who participated in the study.
Education: State Your Highest Education Level
Education in this case is an ordinal variable. The researcher will measure the respondent’s
level of education by asking them to state their highest education level. In this respect, the research
will start by, primary level, high school, to college level categories and the respondents will indicate
where they belong.
Blood Pressure: Measured through speech and history
The variable of blood pressure, which is continuous, will be measured by making the
respondent offer speech and then measure his or her blood pressure. Subsequently, the researcher
will also ask the respondent to provide his or her history concerning this aspect, whether the
respondent has ever had a history of blood pressure.
Income: Please indicate your average monthly income
RESEARCH METHODS 4
On income level, respondents will be assessed by asking them to state the average
monthly income they earn. The choices would be provided as:
a. Less than $10,000
b. $10,000 to $25,000
c. $25,000 to $35,000
d. $35,000 to $50,000
e. $50,000 to $75,000
f. Over $75,000
The researcher should employ this method because according to Powell, (2009), some
respondents may object to questions asking them to directly state their level of income. Hence, it
is deemed appropriate to categorize the choices as less than $10,000, $10,000–$25,000, $25,000
to $35,000, $35,000 to $50,000 and over $75,000 instead of being specific.
Smoking status: Do you smoke?
The researcher will be able to acquire the smoking status of the respondents by asking
them to indicate if they simply smoke or not. Those who smoke will indicate so while those who
do not will indicate otherwise. The number will then be quantified to determine the ratio and
aggregate them against the other research variables.
Cancer: Do you or your family have a history of cancer?
The researcher will be able to determine the prevalence of cancer among the respondents
by asking them to state if they had a history of cancer. For those with cancer history, there should
be additional space for them to provide the main recommendations of their clinicians concerning
RESEARCH METHODS 5
their health status. Respondents with cancer history will also be required to indicate if they
adhered to the clinician’s recommendations.
Marital status: Please indicate your marital status
Marital status is a categorical variable, which could be measured by use of Likert scale
(Bollen, 2011). Therefore, the researcher will simply ask the respondents to indicate whether
they are single, married or divorced. The result will then be quantified and aggregated against the
other research variables being measured.
Ethnicity: From what Ethic Group Do You Belong?
Respondents will be asked to indicate their ethnicity background. According to Cohen,
(2010), ethnicity refers to an individual’s self-identification or ethnic group of his or her birth.
Under this category, respondents can then be classified as being, European Americans, Asian
American, Pacific Islander, and African American, Native Americans, Latino Americans, and
others for those who do not belong to neither of the categories. The researcher will then be able
to determine the ethnic group of the participants and aggregate them against the other variables.
Body Temperature: What is the degree of your body temperature? (Warm, cold)
Participant’s temperature may be obtained by requiring them to state the degree of the
body temperature as either being warm or cold. According to Lauren, (2013) obtaining
individual’s temperature may assist in evaluating people’s general health condition.
RESEARCH METHODS 6
Reference
Bollen, K.A. (2011), “Structural Equation Models that are Nonlinear in Latent Variables: A
Least Squares Estimator,” Sociological Methodology, 25, 223-251.
Borgatti, (2009). “Principles of Questionnaire Construction”