Independent and Dependent Variables: Which Is Which? PrepScholar

While some studies only have one dependent variable and one independent variable, it is possible to have several of each type. The independent variable is “independent” because the experimenters are free to vary it as they need. This might mean changing the amount, duration, or type of variable that the participants in the study receive as a treatment or condition. When doing a science experiment, some variables need to remain constant. By keeping a variable constant, you ensure your results remain accurate.

• However, the other variables that can affect a scientific experiment are a bit harder to explain.
• Science experiments study these different types of variables to find cause and effect relationships.
• For example, sleep problems in university students are often influenced by factors such as stress.
• Variables provide the means by which scientists structure their observations.

What Is a Variable in Science?

The amount of time studied is the independent variable, because it’s what she changed, so it’s on the x-axis. The score she got on the exam is the dependent variable, because it’s what changed as a result of the independent variable, and it’s on the y-axis. It’s common to put the units in parentheses next to the axis titles, which this graph does. It can be practically anything, such as objects, amounts of time, feelings, events, or ideas. If you’re studying how people feel about different television shows, the variables in that experiment are television shows and feelings.

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The dependent variable (sometimes known as the responding variable) is what is being studied and measured in the experiment. It’s what changes as a result of the changes to the independent variable. An example of a dependent variable is how tall you are at different ages. The dependent variable (height) depends on the independent variable (age).

What Is an Independent Variable? What Is a Dependent Variable?

Speaking of cause and effect, the independent variable is your cause. If you write out the variables in a sentence that shows cause and effect, the independent variable causes the effect on the dependent variable. If you have the variables in the wrong order, the sentence won’t make sense. The dependent variable is the condition that you measure in an experiment.

Controlled Variables in Psychology

Understanding the interplay between independent and dependent variables is crucial for designing and conducting effective scientific research. An operational definition describes how the variables are measured and defined in the study. Before conducting a psychology experiment, it is essential to create firm operational definitions for both the independent variable and dependent variables. The things that change, either naturally or through direct manipulation from the experimenter, are generally the independent variables. The dependent variable is the one that the experimenter is measuring. Variables are the factors, traits, and conditions you can modify and measure.

As a result, stress might be an intervening variable that influences how much sleep people get, which in turn may influence how well they perform on exams. While the big three are typically what you think about when it comes to an experiment, they are not the only variables. However, the other variables that can affect a scientific experiment are a bit harder to explain. Adding different amounts of water to a plant could affect its growth. To investigate this, plant some seeds and water each plant with different amount over time. Knowing which variables to control is important when designing experiments to find out if a prediction is right or wrong.

Read our guide to learn which science classes high school students should be taking. Can you identify the independent and dependent variables for each of the four scenarios below? The answers are at the bottom of the guide for you to check your work. In the case of participant variables, the experiment might select participants that are the same in background and temperament to ensure that these factors don’t interfere with the results.

When trying to determine which variables are which, remember that the independent variables are the cause while the dependent variables are the effect. These experiments can range from simple to quite complicated, so it can sometimes be a bit confusing to know how to identify the independent what variable is measured in an experiment vs. dependent variables. Here are a couple of questions to ask to help you learn which is which. Below you’ll find more about these two types of variables, along with examples of each in sample science experiments, and an explanation of how to graph them to help visualize your data.