Practice Exercise: How to Define Variables
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Question 1 of 8
Select the "best" definition of a variable below. A variable is...
anything that can be measured or categorized and has at least 1 value
something that is being measured or predicted
something that influences or explains something else
anything that can be measured/categorized and has at least two values
Question 2 of 8
Select the "best" definition of an independent variable. An independent variable is...
a variable that is being measured or predicted.
output
response variable
a variable that influences or explains another variable
Question 3 of 8
Select the "best" definition of an dependent variable. A dependent variable is...
an outcome variable
a response variable
Any variable that is being influenced by another variable
All of these options
Question 4 of 8
In the following research question, please identify the independent and dependent variable. "Is there a gender difference in heart rate recovery time?"
Heart rate recovery time = independent variable; gender = dependent variable
gender = independent; heart rate recovery time = dependent
I don't know
Question 5 of 8
In the following research question, please identify the independent and dependent variables. "Does ethnicity and income have an effect on marital satisfaction?"
ethnicity = independent variable; income = dependent variable; marital satisfaction = independent variable
ethnicity = dependent variable; income = independent variable; marital satisfaction = independent variable
ethnicity = independent variable; income = independent variable; marital satisfaction = dependent variable
Question 6 of 8
In the following research question, please identify the independent and dependent variables. "Are there significant changes in blood pressure scores on the pretest, post-test, and 3 month follow-up?"
blood pressure = independent variable; time = dependent variable
blood pressure = dependent variable; time = independent variable
pretest, post-test, 3 month follow-up = dependent variable; blood pressure = independent variable
None of the above
Question 7 of 8
In the following research question, please identify the independent and dependent variables. "Do gender and classroom size effect scores on a fear of statistics scale?"
gender = independent variable; class size = independent variable; fear of stats = dependent
gender = dependent variable; class size = independent variable; fear of stats = independent
gender = dependent variable; class size = dependent variable; fear of stats = independent
Question 8 of 8
In the following research question, please identify the independent and dependent variables. "Is there an association between participation in a rehabilitation program and 2nd arrest for first time criminals?"
program participation = dependent variable; 2nd arrest = independent variable
program participation = independent variable; 2nd arrest = dependent variable