Defining Independent and Dependent Variables in Nursing Research in Healthcare Peer-review Article
Independent vs. Dependent Variables | Definition & Examples
In research, variables are any characteristics that tin can take on different values, such as height, age, temperature, or exam scores.
Researchers frequently manipulate or measure contained and dependent variables in studies to exam crusade-and-upshot relationships.
- The contained variable is the crusade. Its value is independent of other variables in your study.
- The dependent variable is the event. Its value depends on changes in the independent variable.
Your independent variable is the temperature of the room. You vary the room temperature by making it cooler for half the participants, and warmer for the other half.
Your dependent variable is math test scores. You measure out the math skills of all participants using a standardized exam and check whether they differ based on room temperature.
What is an independent variable?
An contained variable is the variable y'all manipulate or vary in an experimental study to explore its furnishings. Information technology's chosen "contained" because it's not influenced by whatsoever other variables in the study.
Independent variables are likewise called:
- Explanatory variables (they explain an event or outcome)
- Predictor variables (they can be used to predict the value of a dependent variable)
- Correct-manus-side variables (they announced on the right-hand side of a regression equation).
These terms are specially used in statistics, where you estimate the extent to which an independent variable modify can explicate or predict changes in the dependent variable.
Types of independent variables
At that place are two main types of contained variables.
- Experimental independent variables can be directly manipulated past researchers.
- Subject variables cannot be manipulated by researchers, but they tin be used to grouping research subjects categorically.
Experimental variables
In experiments, y'all manipulate independent variables directly to see how they affect your dependent variable. The independent variable is ordinarily applied at unlike levels to see how the outcomes differ.
You lot tin apply simply 2 levels in club to discover out if an independent variable has an effect at all.
You can too apply multiple levels to find out how the independent variable affects the dependent variable.
You lot have three independent variable levels, and each group gets a different level of treatment.
You randomly assign your patients to one of the 3 groups:
- A depression-dose experimental group
- A loftier-dose experimental grouping
- A placebo group
A true experiment requires you to randomly assign different levels of an independent variable to your participants.
Random consignment helps you command participant characteristics, so that they don't affect your experimental results. This helps you to have conviction that your dependent variable results come up solely from the independent variable manipulation.
Subject variables
Subject variables are characteristics that vary across participants, and they tin't be manipulated by researchers. For example, gender identity, ethnicity, race, income, and education are all of import bailiwick variables that social researchers care for every bit contained variables.
It's not possible to randomly assign these to participants, since these are characteristics of already existing groups. Instead, yous can create a research design where you compare the outcomes of groups of participants with characteristics. This is a quasi-experimental design because there's no random assignment.
Your contained variable is a subject variable, namely the gender identity of the participants. Y'all have three groups: men, women and other.
Your dependent variable is the brain activity response to hearing babe cries. You record brain activity with fMRI scans when participants hear baby cries without their awareness.
Afterwards collecting information, y'all cheque for statistically meaning differences between the groups. You find some and conclude that gender identity influences brain responses to babe cries.
What is your plagiarism score?
Compare your paper with over 60 billion web pages and xxx million publications.
- Best plagiarism checker of 2021
- Plagiarism report & percentage
- Largest plagiarism database
Scribbr Plagiarism Checker
What is a dependent variable?
A dependent variable is the variable that changes as a result of the independent variable manipulation. It'south the outcome you're interested in measuring, and information technology "depends" on your independent variable.
In statistics, dependent variables are as well chosen:
- Response variables (they respond to a change in some other variable)
- Outcome variables (they represent the event you desire to measure)
- Left-hand-side variables (they appear on the left-mitt side of a regression equation)
The dependent variable is what you record subsequently you've manipulated the independent variable. You use this measurement data to check whether and to what extent your contained variable influences the dependent variable by conducting statistical analyses.
Based on your findings, you lot can judge the degree to which your independent variable variation drives changes in your dependent variable. Y'all tin can too predict how much your dependent variable will change every bit a issue of variation in the independent variable.
Identifying independent vs. dependent variables
Distinguishing betwixt independent and dependent variables can be tricky when designing a complex study or reading an academic newspaper.
A dependent variable from ane study can exist the independent variable in another study, so it's of import to pay attention to research pattern.
Hither are some tips for identifying each variable type.
Recognizing independent variables
Use this listing of questions to check whether you're dealing with an independent variable:
- Is the variable manipulated, controlled, or used as a field of study grouping method by the researcher?
- Does this variable come earlier the other variable in time?
- Is the researcher trying to empathise whether or how this variable affects another variable?
Recognizing dependent variables
Bank check whether you lot're dealing with a dependent variable:
- Is this variable measured every bit an event of the study?
- Is this variable dependent on another variable in the study?
- Does this variable get measured only after other variables are altered?
Independent and dependent variables in research
Independent and dependent variables are generally used in experimental and quasi-experimental enquiry.
Here are some examples of inquiry questions and corresponding independent and dependent variables.
| Research question | Independent variable | Dependent variable(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Practice tomatoes grow fastest under fluorescent, incandescent, or natural light? |
|
|
| What is the upshot of intermittent fasting on blood sugar levels? |
|
|
| Is medical marijuana effective for pain reduction in people with chronic pain? |
|
|
| To what extent does remote working increase job satisfaction? |
|
|
For experimental data, you lot analyze your results by generating descriptive statistics and visualizing your findings. And then, you select an appropriate statistical exam to examination your hypothesis.
The type of test is determined by:
- your variable types
- level of measurement
- number of independent variable levels.
You lot'll often apply t tests or ANOVAs to analyze your information and answer your research questions.
Visualizing contained and dependent variables
In quantitative research, it's good practice to use charts or graphs to visualize the results of studies. Mostly, the independent variable goes on the ten-axis (horizontal) and the dependent variable on the y-centrality (vertical).
The type of visualization yous apply depends on the variable types in your research questions:
- A bar chart is ideal when you take a chiselled independent variable.
- A scatter plot or line graph is best when your independent and dependent variables are both quantitative.
To inspect your data, you place your independent variable of treatment level on the 10-axis and the dependent variable of blood pressure on the y-centrality.
You lot plot bars for each treatment group before and after the treatment to show the departure in claret pressure.
Based on your results, y'all note that the placebo and depression-dose groups evidence little difference in blood pressure, while the high-dose group sees substantial improvements.
Frequently asked questions well-nigh contained and dependent variables
- What's the definition of an independent variable?
-
An independent variable is the variable you manipulate, command, or vary in an experimental study to explore its effects. It's called "contained" because it'south not influenced by whatsoever other variables in the written report.
Independent variables are besides chosen:
- Explanatory variables (they explain an effect or event)
- Predictor variables (they can be used to predict the value of a dependent variable)
- Right-hand-side variables (they appear on the right-hand side of a regression equation).
- What'southward the definition of a dependent variable?
-
A dependent variable is what changes as a result of the independent variable manipulation in experiments. It's what you're interested in measuring, and it "depends" on your independent variable.
In statistics, dependent variables are as well called:
- Response variables (they respond to a alter in another variable)
- Outcome variables (they represent the issue you want to measure)
- Left-manus-side variables (they appear on the left-manus side of a regression equation)
- Can I include more than one independent or dependent variable in a study?
-
Yes, but including more than one of either type requires multiple research questions.
For example, if you are interested in the effect of a diet on wellness, you lot can use multiple measures of health: blood sugar, claret pressure, weight, pulse, and many more than. Each of these is its own dependent variable with its own research question.
Yous could besides choose to look at the result of exercise levels as well every bit diet, or fifty-fifty the boosted effect of the two combined. Each of these is a separate independent variable.
To ensure the internal validity of an experiment, you should simply modify 1 independent variable at a time.
Is this article helpful?
You lot have already voted. Thanks :-) Your vote is saved :-) Processing your vote...
Source: https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/independent-and-dependent-variables/
0 Response to "Defining Independent and Dependent Variables in Nursing Research in Healthcare Peer-review Article"
Post a Comment