• A variable is a condition or

characteristic that can take on

different values or categories.
• It refers to a person, place, thing,
or phenomenon that you are trying
to measure in some way.
VARIABL • It represents a measurable
attribute that changes or varies
E across the experiment whether
comparing results between
multiple groups, multiple people or
even when using a single person in
an experiment conducted over
time.
 TYPES OF
VARIABLES
Independent and Dependent
 INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

• the variable you manipulate or vary in an experimental study to explore

its effects.
• It is called “independent” because it is not influenced by any other
variables in the study.

 Explanatory variables (they explain an event or outcome)

 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).
TYPES OF INDEPENDENT
VARIABLES

Subject variables
Experimental cannot be
independent manipulated by
variables can be researchers, but
directly they can be used to
manipulated by group research
researchers. subjects
categorically.
 Impact of a new medication on
the blood pressure of patients
with hypertension.
The independent variable is the
treatment that you directly vary
between groups.
EXPERIMENT - A low-dose experimental group
AL
VARIABLES
- A high-dose experimental
group
- A placebo group
 Subject variables are
characteristics that vary
across participants, and
they can’t be manipulated
SUBJECT by researchers.
VARIABL
For example, gender
E identity, ethnicity, race,
income, and education are
all important subject
variables that social
researchers treat as
independent variables.
 Study: Is gender identity affects neural
responses to infant cries?

IV - gender identity of the participants.

Exampl
e of DV - brain activity response to hearing
infant cries.
Subject Record brain activity with MRI scans
Variable when participants hear infant cries
without their awareness.
After collecting data, check for
statistically significant differences
between the groups. Conclude that
gender identity influences brain
responses to infant cries.
 DEPENDENT VARIABLES

• variable that changes as a result of the independent variable

manipulation.
• the outcome you are interested in measuring, and it “depends” on
the independent variable.
Response variables (they respond to a change in another variable)
Outcome variables (they represent the outcome you want to
measure)
Left-hand-side variables (they appear on the left-hand side of a
regression equation)
 Identifying independent vs.
dependent variables
INDEPENDENT DEPENDENT
• Is the variable manipulated, • Is this variable measured as
controlled, or used as a subject an outcome of the study?
grouping method by the researcher?
• Does this variable come before the • Is this variable dependent on
other variable in time? another variable in the study?
• Is the researcher trying to • Does this variable get
understand whether or how this measured only after other
variable affects another variable?
variables are altered?
 DRY MIX Experiment Variables
• D = dependent variable
• R = responding variable
• Y = graph information on the vertical or y-axis

• M = manipulated variable
• I = independent variable
• X = graph information on the horizontal or x-axis
EXPLANATORY AND RESPONSE VARIABLES

 explanatory variable - is what Research Explanatory Response

question variables variable
you manipulate or observe
Does academic •Academic •GPA
changes motivation motivation
predict
- the expected cause and it performance?
explains the result (e.g., caffeine Can •Overconfidence •Investment
dose) overconfidence •Risk perception choices
and risk
 response variable- is what perception
changes as a result explain financial
risk-taking
- the expected effect, and it behaviors?
responds to explanatory Does the •Temperature •Reproduction
variables (e.g., reaction times). weather affect •Humidity levels rates of Covid-
the transmission •Wind speed 19
of Covid-19?
 MEDIATOR (INTERVENING) VARIABLE

• hypothetical variable used to explain causal links between other

variables.
• not real things, they are just interpretations of observed facts
• A mediator is a way in which an independent variable impacts a
dependent variable. It’s part of the causal pathway of an effect,
and it tells you how or why an effect takes place.
 MEDIATOR (INTERVENING) VARIABLE

In a study on socioeconomic status and reading ability in children,

you hypothesize that parental education level is a mediator. This
means that socioeconomic status affects reading ability mainly
through its influence on parental education levels. status predicts
 Socioeconomic
parental education levels,
 Parental education levels
predicts child reading ability,
 The correlation between
socioeconomic status and
child reading ability is greater
when parental education
levels are taken into account
in your model.
 MEDIATOR (INTERVENING) VARIABLE

TYPES:
 FULL MEDIATION- a mediator fully explains the relationship
between the independent and dependent variable: without the
mediator in the model, there is no relationship.

PARTIAL MEDIATION- there is still a statistical relationship

between the independent and dependent variable even when
the mediator is taken out of a model: the mediator only partially
explains the relationship.
 MODERATING VARIABLE

• affects the strength and direction of the relationship between the two
variables
• A moderator influences the level, direction, or presence of a relationship
between variables. It shows you for whom, when, or under what
circumstances a relationship will hold.
• Moderators usually help you judge the external validity of your study by
identifying the limitations of when the relationship between variables
holds.
• Moderators can be:
 Categorical variables - ethnicity, race, religion, favorite colors, health
status, or stimulus type
 Quantitative variables- age, weight, height, income, or visual stimulus size.
 MODERATING VARIABLE

In a study on work experience and salary,

you hypothesize that:
• years of work experience predicts salary,
when controlling for relevant variables,
• gender identity moderates the
relationship between work experience
and salary.
 This means that the relationship
between years of experience and salary
would differ between men, women, and
those who do not identify as men or
women.
 EXTRANEOUS VARIABLE

Research question Extraneous

variables
 In an experiment, an extraneous Is memory •Test-taking time of
variable is any variable that capacity related to day
you’re not investigating that can test performance? •Test anxiety
potentially affect the outcomes of •Level of stress
your research study. Does sleep •Road conditions
deprivation affect •Years of driving
 If left uncontrolled, extraneous driving ability? experience
variables can lead to inaccurate •Noise
conclusions about the Does light •Type of mouse
relationship between independent exposure improve •Genetic
and dependent variables. learning ability in background
mice? •Learning
environment
 CONFOUNDING VARIABLE

• Confounding variables (a.k.a. confounders or confounding factors) are a

type of extraneous variable that are related to a study’s independent and
dependent variables. A variable must meet two conditions to be a
confounder:
 It must be correlated with the independent variable. This may be a
causal relationship, but it does not have to be.
 It must be causally related to the dependent variable.
 CONFOUNDING VARIABLE

• Example of a confounding variable

• You collect data on sunburns and ice
cream consumption. You find that
higher ice cream consumption is
associated with a higher probability
of sunburn. Does that mean ice
cream consumption causes sunburn?
• Here, the confounding variable is
temperature: hot temperatures cause
people to both eat more ice cream
and spend more time outdoors under
the sun, resulting in more sunburns.
 Extraneous and Confounding
-Having Variables
participants who work in scientific
professions (in labs) is a confounding variable in
your study, because this type of work correlates
with wearing a lab coat and better scientific
reasoning.
-People who work in labs would regularly wear lab
coats and may have higher scientific knowledge in
general. Therefore, it’s unlikely that your
manipulation will increase scientific reasoning
abilities for these participants.
-Variables that only impact on scientific reasoning
are extraneous variables. These include
participants’ interests in science and
undergraduate majors. While interest in science
may affect scientific reasoning ability, it’s not
necessarily related to wearing a lab coat.
-
 CONTINUOUS VARIABLE

• a variable which can take an uncountable set of values or infinite set of

values

• Examples:
 Height
 Weight
 Number of stars in the space
 Age
 Population size
 CATEGORICAL VARIABLE

• a variable that can take on one of a limited, and usually fixed, number of
possible values, assigning each individual or other unit of observation to
a particular group or nominal category on the basis of some qualitative
property
• Examples:
 Race
 Gender
 Status
 Educational level