A: A variable is anything that the study is measuring. Read through your source looking for the following characteristics or keywords to identify the dependent and independent variable in your study.
Dependent variables:
• Dependent variables depend on other variables. For example, if someone was studying the effects of pollution on asthma, the incidence of asthma would be the dependent variable.
• When you are searching for relationships between variables, you are trying to find what makes the dependent variable change.
• The dependent variable is sometimes called the “response,” the “symptoms”, or the “outcome”.
• The dependent variable is often the focus of the research study.
Independent variables:
• Independent variables aren’t affected by any other variables that the study measures. For example, if someone was studying the effects of tooth-brushing on the incidence of caries, the tooth-brushing would be the independent variable.
• When you are searching for relationships between variables, you are trying to see if the independent variable causes some kind of change in the dependent variable.
• The independent variable can be a “treatment” (such as a drug dosage), a “risk factor” (such as diet), an intervention, or a predictor (such as weight or age).
• The independent variable could be a natural difference (such as gender), or it could be varied by the researcher intentionally.
An independent variable can affect a dependent variable, but a dependent variable can't affect an independent variable.
