Home / Summaries / Research Methods for Business Students / data-variables-variable

Collecting primary data using questionnaires - Deciding what data needs to be collected

4 important questions on Collecting primary data using questionnaires - Deciding what data needs to be collected

What is an independent variable?

That causes changes in a dependent variable

Dillman et al. (2014) distinguishes between three types of data variable that can be collected through questionnaires:

- factual or demographic;
- attitudes and opinions;
-behaviors and events;

Factual and demographic variables =

Contain data that are readily available to the respondent and are likely to be accurate. These variables include characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, education, occupation and income. They are used to explore how attitudes and opinions, and behaviors and events, differ, as well as to check that the data collected are representative of the total population.

Attitude or opinion variables =

contain data that respondents may have needed to think about before answering. They are likely influenced by the context in which the question was asked; recording how respondent feel about something or what they think or believe is true or false.