PO217 Chapter 4: Chapter 4 textbook Defining the Political World po217
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Dependant concept /variable is the outcome that we are trying to explain. In brief, we hypothesize that variations in this concept are based, or depend on, variation in other elements inside the model - variance is endogenous to the model. Variations in the independent concept is hypothesized to depend upon factors outside the model - that is exogenous to the model. Variables are concrete manifestation of that phenomenon in a particular research project. A variable is the way the concept has been measured in the particular study. A researcher can actually assign a value to every. Research on the variables will provide the evidence used to draw conclusions about the hypothesized relationship between concepts. Much of empirical research involves comparing the change in one variable with that in another. The relationship with the variables should mirror the relationship between concepts. Notice that there is a theory underlying this hypothesized relationship.
