The data, relationships, and distributions of variables are studied only. 3. Types of variables. Variables are not manipulated; they are only identified and are studied as they occur in a natural setting. Qualitative variables are those that express a qualitative attribute such as hair color, religion, race, gender, social status, method of payment, and so on. Qualitative research methods are designed in a manner that help reveal the behavior and perception of a target audience with reference to a particular topic. Types of Qualitative Data . Other examples of qualitative variables are shown below. The other name of this data is categorical data as it can be arranged categorically depending on the properties, phenomenon or … Unfortunately, it gets a little more complicated. Nominal Data: In statistics, nominal data (also known as nominal scale) is a classification of categorical variables, that do not provide any quantitative value. For example, the gender of college graduates is a qualitative variable. When you carry out your dissertation, you may need to measure, manipulate and/or control the variables you are investigating. The values of a qualitative variable do not imply a meaningful numerical ordering. The variable can be observed. *Sometimes correlational research is considered a type of descriptive research, and not as its own type of research, as no variables are manipulated in the study. This means that there are four basic data types that we might need to Qualitative variables are also called categorical variables. Understanding the types of variables you are investigating in your dissertation is necessary for all types of quantitative research design, whether you using an experimental, quasi-experimental, relationship-based or descriptive research design. An important distinction between variables is between the qualitative variable and the quantitative variable. A qualitative variable, also called categorical variable cannot be expressed with a numerical value. Qualitative variables. In other words, a qualitative variable is a variable which takes as its values modalities, categories or even levels, in contrast to quantitative variables which measure a quantity on each individual. We cannot count it ot measure. Qualitative Data can be divided into two types, namely; Nominal and Ordinal Data . It is … Qualitative variables are divided into two types: nominal and ordinal. Qualitative data are a collection of various types of information, collected via methods like one to one interview, observations, organizing a focus group, and many others like this. Quantitative and qualitative data types can each be divided into two main categories, as depicted in Figure 1. Types of qualitative research methods with examples.