Now that you have formulated your research problem, it is important to examine your objective, research questions and hypotheses to identify if you have used any concepts in their formulation. When you convert concepts into variables an understanding about variables plays a very important role. Concepts are highly subjective as their understanding varies from person to person and, as such, they may not be measurable. Any concept, perception or imagination that can be measured on any one of the four measurement scales (nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio) is called a variable. It is important for concepts used in a study to be operationalised in measurable terms so that the extent of variation in a study population’s understanding of them is reduced, if not eliminated.