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Variables: Influences The Dependent Variable. If The Independent Variable Is Related To or Influences The

Variables are concepts or constructs that can have different values and relate to characteristics of people. There are two main types of variables studied in research: independent variables and dependent variables. The independent variable is the factor that is being tested for its influence on or ability to predict the dependent variable. For example, in a study looking at criminal behavior in adolescents, parental guidance could be either the independent variable being tested for its effect on criminal records (the dependent variable), or vice versa depending on the research question being asked. Determining which variable is independent and which is dependent depends on the specific question under investigation, not on whether a variable is manipulated.

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47 views

Variables: Influences The Dependent Variable. If The Independent Variable Is Related To or Influences The

Variables are concepts or constructs that can have different values and relate to characteristics of people. There are two main types of variables studied in research: independent variables and dependent variables. The independent variable is the factor that is being tested for its influence on or ability to predict the dependent variable. For example, in a study looking at criminal behavior in adolescents, parental guidance could be either the independent variable being tested for its effect on criminal records (the dependent variable), or vice versa depending on the research question being asked. Determining which variable is independent and which is dependent depends on the specific question under investigation, not on whether a variable is manipulated.

Uploaded by

MubashirKhattak
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Variables

One term that you will hear being used quite frequently is variable. A variable is a concept or
construct that can vary or have more than one value. Some variables can be quite concrete such
as gender, birth order, weight, or shoe size. Others can be considerably more abstract, vague, and
squishy. For example, sense of well being, self-esteem, strength of belief in religion, or IQ.
Basically, variables are the things about people that we can say one person has more of than
another. So we find that people vary in their gender and shoe size, and their self-esteem and their
IQ.
We might then be interested in knowing how certain variables are related to each other. For
example, which variables predict self-esteem (itself, another variable). We might be interested in
understanding the relationship between self-esteem and variables such as whether or not the
person is employed, his or her depression level, the persons sex, and the number of failed
relationships the person has had.
There are two basic kinds of variables that we most often talk about in research. Both Ray and
Howell do define these two kinds; what we call the independent variable (IV), and
the dependent variable (DV) although I believe they've failed in their attempt by restricting
their definition to a particular kind of study. The independent variable is defined by these authors
as the "variable that the experimenter manipulates." While this is true in experiments, not all
studies are experiments. Often, we don't manipulate anything in a study. Instead, we merely
collect data and observe how variables are related to each other. The text authors definition of
"independent variable" could imply that there is no independent variable in co relational studies.
Similarly, both define the dependent variable as if it were necessarily caused by the independent
variable. But this is not necessarily true.
What is the IV and what are the DV changes with the questions being asked. In one sense every
variable is a DV until otherwise lined up to be the IV for a particular research question. The
independent variable is what we are studying with respect to how it is related to or
influences the dependent variable. If the independent variable is related to or influences the
dependent variable, it can be used to predict the dependent variable. It is therefore sometimes
called the predictor variable, or the explanatory variable. The independent variable may be
manipulated or it may just be measured. In contrast, the dependent variable is what we are
studying, with respect to how it is related to or influenced by the independent variable or how it
can be explained or predicted by the independent variable. It is sometimes called the response
variable or the criterion variable. It is never manipulated as a part of the study. DVs are the
things we measure about people.
Consider an example. Suppose two investigators are studying the relationship between criminal
behaviour in adolescents and parental guidance to determine what kinds of advice to give
parents. The two investigators may have the same data. This data includes: (1) the police records
of a group of adolescents, giving data about the number of times the child has entered the
criminal justice system (such as by being arrested, questioned by the police, etc.), and (2)
information from a questionnaire about the kinds of information or advice that each adolescent

has received from his or her parents. One investigator might be examining whether parents who
give advice focusing on walking away from interpersonal conflicts differ from parents who give
advice to the child to "stand up for yourself". The independent variable is the kind of advice the
parents give and the dependent variable is whether the child has criminal record or not. But
another investigator might be asking a different question. What types of parental advice and
guidance distinguishes adolescents who get into the criminal system from those that dont? In
this case, whether or not the child has a criminal record or not is the IV and the type of parental
advice is the dependent variable. From this example, it should be clear that the distinction
between the independent and dependent variable is based not on manipulation but on the
questions one is asking of the data.
A useful hint for determining which variable is which in a study is to ask whether you are trying
to either influence or predict one variable from some other variable or variables. If so, that
variable is probably the dependent variable. The variable that you are using to make the
predictions or to determine if it influences (rather than is influenced by) some other variable in
the study is typically the independent variable. For this reason, the independent variable is
sometimes called the "explanatory" variable while the dependent variable is sometimes called the
"response" variable. You try to "explain" variation in responses on the dependent variable with
the independent or "explanatory" variable(s).

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