Tutorial Week 7

FIC0154 Basic Communication Research (30^th October 2012).

Reference materials: Lecture notes 3, 4 and relevant book chapters

Question 1

Define Independent and Dependent Variables.

ANSWER

• Independent variable is the cause of dependent variable, researchers manipulate the independent variable to see the effect of dependent variable, independent variable is systematic varied by the researchers and controlled by the researchers.
• Dependent variable is the variable which researcher wishes to explain, observe or measure. Researchers observed and their values pressured to depend on the independent variable.

Ø  Example 1: Attitude towards censorship movies in Malaysia.

Independent variable  = Censorship movies in Malaysia.

Dependent variable     = Attitude

Ø  Example 2: Which brands of smart phone the students prefer?

Independent variable  = Students

Dependent variable     = Brands of smart phone

Ø  Example 3: Teenagers’ attitudes toward different types of games.

Independent variable  = Types of games

Dependent variable     = Teenagers’ attitudes

Provide two examples of how a dependent variable in one study could be used as an independent variable in a different study.

ANSWER

• Example 1: Radio station can be used as an independent variable or dependent

       variable based on different studies.

Ø  Which radio station a teenager prefers?

Independent variable  = Teenager

Dependent variable     = Radio station

Ø  Does radio station affect the credibility of the information?

Independent variable  = Radio station

Dependent variable     = Credibility of the information

• Example 2: Level of concentration in class can be used as an independent variable

       or dependent variable based on different studies.

Ø  The number of hours students expose to internet will affect their level of concentration in class.

Independent variable  = The number of hours students expose to internet.

Dependent variable     = Level of concentration in class

Ø  Students’ level of concentration in class will affect their academic results.

Independent variable  = Level of concentration in class

Dependent variable     = Academic results

Question 2

An operational definition specifies the procedures to be followed to experience or measure a concept/variable. There is no single foolproof method to operationally defining a variable. The researcher must decide which method is the best suited for the research problem at hand.

Provide your own operational definition for each of following variables. In other words, if your research involves the following variables, how would you SPECIFIALLY define / observe / measure them?

E.g.

i) Experienced female drivers

Answer: Operational definition of the variable ‘experienced female drivers’ is defined as ‘females between age 25-55 who hold a valid Malaysian driving license for 5 years and above’.

ii) Attitude towards illegal movie downloading from the internet

Answer: Operational definition of the variable ‘attitude towards illegal movie downloading from the internet’ is measured by ‘how many times a person downloads movies from internet sites without payment in a month. 0 times/month = totally against illegal downloading; 1-2 times month = somewhat supportive of illegal downloading; 3-5 times/month = very supportive of illegal downloading; more than 5 times a month = fanatic supporter of illegal downloading.

1.         Prime-time television programmes

ANSWER

• Operational definition of the ‘prime-time television programmes’ is defined by ‘all TV programmes which show at 7pm-9pm on NTV7’.

2.         Students’ attitude in lectures

ANSWER

• Operational definition of ‘student’s attitude in lectures’ is observed by ‘which row a student sit in a lecture hall’.

1^st -2^nd row = good attitude, 3^rd -4^th row = medium attitude, 5^th row and above = bad attitude.

• Operational definition of ‘student’s attitude in lectures’ is observed by ‘the number of notes a student copy during a lecture’.

0-2 pages = bad attitude, 3-5 pages = medium attitude, 6 pages and above = good attitude.

• Operational definition of ‘student’s attitude in lectures’ is measured by ‘the attendance of a student in a month’.

0-1  present = bad attitude, 2-3 present = medium attitude, 4 present and above =

good attitude.

3.         Addicted smart phone users

ANSWER

• Operational definition of ‘addicted smart phone users’ is measured by ‘how long a person spent using the smart phone in a day’.

0-2  hours = low level of addiction, 3-5 hours = medium level of addiction, 6 hours

and above = high level of addiction.

• Operational definition of ‘addicted smart phone users’ is measured by ‘how many times a person look at their phone in an hour’.

0-3  times = low level of addiction, 4-7 times = medium level of addiction, 8 times

and above = high level of addiction.

• Operational definition of ‘addicted smart phone users’ is measured by ‘how many applications a person downloaded in a week’.

0-2 applications = low level of addiction, 3-5 applications = medium level of

addiction, 6 applications and above = high level of addiction.

• Operational definition of ‘addicted smart phone users’ is measured by ‘how many messages a person sent in an hour’.

0-3  messages = low level of addiction, 4-7 messages = medium level of addiction,

8 messages and above = high level of addiction.

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Tan Hui-Xin