Microsoft Word research method fm doc

II. Defining variables and indicators of variables 
To ensure that everyone (the researcher, data collectors, and eventually the reader of the 
research report) understands exactly what has been measured and to ensure that there will 
be consistency in the measurement, it is necessary to clearly define the variables (and 
indicators of variables). For example, to define the indicator “waiting time” it is necessary to 
decide what will be considered the starting point of the “waiting period” e.g. Is it when the 
patient enters the front door, or when he has been registered and obtained his card?
For certain variables, it may not be possible to adequately define the variable or the indicator 
immediately because further information may be needed for this purpose. The researcher 
may need to review the literature to find out what definitions have been used by other 
researchers, so that he can standardize his definitions and thus be able later to easily 
compare his findings with those of the other studies. In some cases the opinions of “experts” 
or of community members of health care providers may be needed in order to define the 
variable or indicator.

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Research methodology 
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The variables to be studied are selected on the basis of their relevance to the objectives of 
the investigation. 
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The initial list is usually too long 
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It has to be pruned to facilitate the collection and processing of the data. 
Once the variables are selected, each of them should be clarified. There are two aspects to 
be considered. 
1. Clear definition of variables in terms of objectively measurable facts (i.e., operational 
definition) - this was repeatedly mentioned (addressed) in the above examples 
2. The scale of measurement to be used in data collection. 
Unless the variables are clearly and explicitly defined, there can be no assurance that, if the 
study is performed by a different investigator, or repeated by the same investigator, similar 
findings would be obtained. 
The following example shows the different definitions (two different definitions) given to 
"obesity". 
The two kinds of definitions are: conceptual and operational. The conceptual definition is 
often akin to a dictionary definition. 
e.g.
“ Obesity” may be defined as: 
“ excessive fatness”, “overweight”, etc. 
In contrast, the operational definition is heavily influenced by considerations of practicability. “ 
Obesity”, for example, might be operationally defined as: “ a weight, based on weighing in 
underclothes and without shoes, which exceeds, by 10% or more, the mean weight of 
persons of the subject's sex, age and height (in a specified population at a specified time)".