What Are Research Constructs And Variables? Simple Explainer With Examples

0:00in this video we're going to unpack the

0:01two related concepts of research

0:04constructs and research variables so

0:06that you can understand what they are

0:08how they're different and how to use

0:10them correctly in your research project

0:13let's do it

0:15so first let's start with a big picture

0:18view and then we can zoom into the finer

0:21details research constructs and

0:23variables both relate to the things of

0:26interest that you're going to explore

0:28within your study for example let's say

0:30you're interested in job satisfaction

0:32and more specifically you're interested

0:34in what factors impact an employee's job

0:37satisfaction in this case both job

0:40satisfaction and all of those things

0:42those factors that might impact job

0:45satisfaction would be considered either

0:47constructs or variables so as you can

0:50see constructs and variables are pretty

0:52Central to any research project because

0:54they link directly to the things that

0:56you're interested in investigating but

0:58it's important to say that these two

1:00things are different and we're going to

1:03unpack how they're different in this

1:04video before digging deeper though it's

1:06worth mentioning that this video is

1:08based on an extract from our popular

1:10online course research methodology

1:12bootcamp if you're new to formal

1:14academic research and research

1:16methodology specifically you'll

1:18definitely want to check that out and to

1:21say thanks for watching this video we've

1:23got a special 60 off discount offer just

1:26for you you can find the link to that in

1:28the description so let's start with

1:30research constructs simply put a

1:33research construct is an abstraction

1:35that researchers use to represent a

1:38phenomenon that's not directly

1:40measurable for example intelligence

1:43motivation or agreeableness would all be

1:46constructs because they're not directly

1:48observable and measurable since

1:50constructs aren't directly measurable

1:53they have to be inferred from other

1:55indicators that are measurable or which

1:58can be directly observed for example the

2:01construct of intelligence can be

2:03inferred based on a combination of more

2:06quantifiable factors like IQ scores and

2:09language proficiency levels both of

2:11which can be directly observed and

2:13measured as a researcher it's really

2:15important for you to clearly Define your

2:18constructs and to make sure that they

2:21can be operationalized in other words

2:23you'll need to think about how you can

2:25develop ways to measure these abstract

2:27Concepts or constructs using relevant

2:30indicators or proxies that accurately

2:33reflect the underlying phenomenon that

2:35you're interested in in technical terms

2:37this is called construct validity if you

2:40want to learn more about that we've got

2:42a dedicated video covering construct

2:44validity and again you can find the link

2:46to that in the description now that

2:48we've looked at constructs let's move on

2:50to variables now it's worth mentioning

2:53that within research the terms construct

2:56and variable are often used quite

2:59Loosely and sometimes even

3:00interchangeably but as I mentioned

3:02they're not the same thing a variable

3:05refers to a phenomenon that is directly

3:08measurable and that can take on

3:10different values or levels for example

3:13things like someone's age or heart or

3:16weight and even their blood pressure

3:18would all be considered variables as

3:20these things can be directly observed

3:22and Quantified using some sort of

3:25measurement instrument typically

3:26constructs are more abstract than

3:29variables since they represent broader

3:31ideas and Concepts while variables are

3:34really specific measures within those

3:36Concepts in other words as a researcher

3:39you'll typically need to use a

3:41combination of variables if your aim is

3:43to measure a construct thinking back to

3:46the example that we looked at earlier

3:48intelligence would be a construct while

3:51IQ score and language proficiency levels

3:54would be two potential variables that

3:56you could use to measure that construct

3:58of intelligence now now it's important

4:01to mention that it's not always the case

4:03that a researcher wants to measure a

4:06construct oftentimes research projects

4:09have other aims for example to explore

4:12how people experience something or the

4:15emotions that they attach to a certain

4:17phenomena or to a certain construct so

4:19long story short while there is this

4:21relationship between variables and

4:24constructs in other words you can use a

4:26combination of variables to measure a

4:28construct it's not always the case that

4:31you need both of these quite commonly

4:33constructs will be the focus within

4:36qualitative research while variables

4:38will be front and center within

4:40quantitative research but that's not to

4:43say that quantitative studies never

4:45explore constructs it's just that they

4:47use a combination of variables to do

4:49that it's also worth mentioning that

4:51there are multiple different types of

4:53variables so you may have heard of

4:55things like dependent variables and

4:57independent variables moderators and

5:00mediating variables and so on if you are

5:03Keen to learn more about variables we've

5:05got a dedicated video that unpacks all

5:07of that terminology and again you can

5:09find the link in the description now

5:11that we've unpacked what both constructs

5:13and variables are and how they differ

5:15let's look at a few practical examples

5:18to solidify your understanding a great

5:21example of a research construct is

5:23motivation it's something that we can

5:26all relate to whether that's high

5:27motivation or low motivation but it's

5:30also something that we can probably all

5:32agree is pretty difficult to quantify

5:34and to measure if you wanted to quantify

5:37motivation levels in a study you could

5:40consider using self-reported motivation

5:42scales for example the situational

5:45motivation scale or the sports

5:46motivation skill these are basic survey

5:49tools where people respond to a set of

5:52statements relating to their motivation

5:54levels another way that you could

5:56potentially measure motivation is by

5:59observing participants actual behavior

6:01and assessing their level of motivation

6:04based on their level of persistence when

6:07they pursue a specific goal for example

6:09how much time do they spend or how many

6:12attempts do they make to achieve a

6:14certain goal this would be another way

6:16in which you could quantify motivation

6:17another good example of a research

6:20construct is social capital in other

6:22words the equality and quantity of

6:25resources and connections that an

6:27individual has within a social network

6:29to measure this construct you could look

6:32at variables such as the person's

6:34Network size in other words how many

6:36people do they know you could also look

6:38at the diversity of that Network however

6:41you might Define that for example age or

6:43gender or income level and so on and so

6:46these factors would give you

6:47quantifiable variables which together

6:50you could use to assess the research

6:52construct of Social Capital so to

6:55summarize as you can see in both of

6:57these examples the research Constructor

6:59a research construct is more abstract

7:02and it's less directly observable

7:04whereas the research variables are

7:07directly observable and most importantly

7:09measurable so while these two things

7:12research constructs and research

7:13variables are similar in that they're

7:16both interested in your things of

7:18interest within your research study

7:21they're not the same thing and so don't

7:23make that mistake when you're writing up

7:25your research methodology all right so

7:28hopefully you now have a clearer

7:30understanding of the two related

7:32concepts of constructs and variables if

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