what is the difference between independent and dependent variables simple examples?

Question

I' m not grasping the difference between independent and dependent variables simple examples would help greatly, help please. If the examples could be every day things it would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Of two variables, one DEPENDS ON the other.



Example:

Temperature DEPENDS ON season of the year.

So "temperature" is the dependent variable.

(You would never say "What season it is depends on the temperature. When it gets warm, the calendar flips to June, and if it cools off it suddenly becomes October...")



Does a tomato plant's height depend on its age?

Yes, because its age is what is making it grow.

Or would you say that what age a tomato plant is depends on its height?

No, because its height is not making time pass.

Its height depends on its age, so "height" is the dependent variable.



Your grades DEPEND ON how many hours you study, not the other way around.

Hours of study make your grades go up, but your grades are not making the hours occur.

So "grades" is the dependent variable.



You go to school DEPENDING on the day of the week.

The day of the week is what makes you go or stay home.

You would never say, "What day this is depends on if I decide to go to school or not."

Deciding to stay home does not make it become Saturday (but being Saturday makes you stay home.)

So "going to school" is the dependent variable.

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Here is a useful hint:

In almost every case, measures of "time" are INDEPENDENT.

That's because time marches on without depending on what you do -- or anything else.

Time is independent of your decisions about school, or the shifts in the weather, or anything else.

So always pick "time passing" as the independent variable, and the other one as the dependent variable.

Answer 2

Take an experiment. Let's say measuring how hot a food gets over 30 minutes.

The dependent variable is the one YOU control: so the time.

The independent variable is the one that you MEASURE: So the heat.



When drawing a graph, the dependent is on the bottom (X) axis and the independent is on the straight (Y) axis.

Answer 3

An independent variable is your "test" variable. In a lab study, it is what you manipulate.



A dependent variable is what you measure. It is what is affected by the independent variable (unless there is no significant effect or you have designed your study wrong).



For instance, if one were to study the effects of sleep deprivation on performance on a cognitive task, your independent variable would be operationalized (defined) as the number of hours a participant has gone without sleep (this is the factor that you manipulate). Your dependent variable would be their score on the cognitive task (it is what you measure).



Do you need to know this in terms of the null hypothesis? Or is this sufficient?

Answer 4

dependant variables have a DIRECT impact

example: if you are measuring the IQ of females in the US.

females and US are dependant variables



indirect variables are

females maybe that live elsewhere