Variable is a general class of objects, events, situations, characters and attributes that are of interest to the researcher. In the social sciences we often interested in variables to do with people.66
According Creswell, Operational definition of variable is the specification of how you will define and measure the variable in your study.67 By using operational definitions, writer can proceed with investigations that might not otherwise be possible. There are two kinds of variables, namely:
1. The Variable of Research
A variable is a characteristic or attribute of an individual or an organization that (a) researchers can measure or observe and (b) varies among individuals or organizations studied. They are key ideas that researchers seek to collect information on to address the purpose of their study.68
Research often concerns relationships between two variables. An independent variables an attribute or characteristic that influences or
66 Mark and Peter, Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods, (New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2001),p.46.
67John W Creswell, Education Research: Planning Conducting and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research(Fourth Edition), (New York: Pearson, 2002), p.151
68 John W. Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, (USA: Pearson Education, 2012), Fourth Edition, p. 112.
affects an outcome or dependent variable.69 Researchers study independent variables to see what effect or influence they have on the outcome. An independent variable is an input variable, that which causes in part or in total a particular outcome; it is a stimulus that influences a response or a factor which may be modified (e.g. under experimental or other conditions) to affect an outcome.
The dependent variable is the response or the criterion variable that is presumed to be caused by or influenced by the independent treatment conditions and any other independent variables.70 On the other hand, a dependent variable is the outcome variable which is caused in total or part by the independent variable.
Based on the quotation above, the variable of research as following:
a. Independent Variable
Independent variables are those that the writer chooses to study in order to assess their possible effect(s) on one or more other variables.71In this research, the independent variable (X) is QAR strategy.
In this research, the writer will implement QAR strategy in order to increase the students’ reading comprehension ability. It will be
69Ibid., p. 116.
70 John W. Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, (USA: SAGE Publication, 2009), Third Edition, p. 157.
71 Jack R. Fraenkel, How To Design And Evaluate Research In Education (Eighth Edition), (New York: Mcgraw-Hill,1990), p.80
implemented to the students at eleventh graders of SMP PGRI 2 Sekampung.
The indicators of independent variable are:
1) Students can categorize the type of the question,
2) Students can identify areas which they want to uncover more information, and
3) Students can answer the question based on the type of the question.
b. Dependent Variable
Yogesh Kumar defines “dependent variable is the factor which is observed and measure to determine the effect of independent variable.”72 It means that dependent variable is variable that depend on the independent variable and it is the result of the influence of independent variable.
In this research, dependent variable (Y) is reading comprehension ability. To measure the students’ reading comprehension ability, the writer will use a written test.
The indicators of dependent variable are:
1) The students can find the main idea of the text,
2) The students can answer the following question of the text, and 3) The students can rewrite the content of the text.
72Yogesh Kumar Singh, Fundamental of Research Methodology and Statistics, (New Delhi: New Age International Publisher, 2006), p.63-64
2. The Operational Definition of Variable
Operational definition is the definition which based on characteristic of the things that will be defined and it can be observed.
Meanwhile, a variable can be defined as an attribute of a person or of an object which “varies” from person to person or from object to object.
Based on the quotation above, the operational definition of variables as following:
a. Dependent Variable
The dependent variable is the variable which you observe and measure to determine the effect of the independent variable.
Dependent variable of this research is reading a recount text. A way to measure this variable is using test, the measuring instrument is a question test, and for the score is start from 0-100 to asses and measure the student’s reading ability comprehension in read recount text. The indicator of this variable is the students can understand main idea, expression, inference, grammatical features, detail (scanning for a specifically stated detail), excluding facts not written (unstated detail), and supporting idea of the recount text.
b. Independent Variable
The independent variable is the major variable which you hope to investigate. It is the variable which is selected, manipulated and measured by the researcher. Independent variable of this research is Question Answer Relationship (QAR) Strategy, one of
way to give lesson plan used by the teacher in teaching-learning process. A way to measure this research is using observation, the measuring instrument is an observation sheet, and for the score is start from 0-100 to assess and measures the students reading ability comprehension in recount text. The indicator of this variable is the students easier to read recount text using QAR strategy.