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DependentandindependentvariablesWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Dependentandindependentvariables
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Inmathematicalmodellingandstatisticalmodelling,therearedependentandindependentvariables.Themodels
investigatehowtheformerdependonthelatter.Thedependentvariablesrepresenttheoutputoroutcomewhose
variationisbeingstudied.Theindependentvariablesrepresentinputsorcauses,i.e.potentialreasonsforvariation.
Modelstestorexplaintheeffectsthattheindependentvariableshaveonthedependentvariables.Sometimes,
independentvariablesmaybeincludedforotherreasons,suchasfortheirpotentialconfoundingeffect,withouta
wishtotesttheireffectdirectly.

Contents
1 Use
1.1 Mathematics
1.2 Statistics
1.3 Modelling
1.4 Simulation
2 Statisticssynonyms
3 Othervariables
4 Examples
5 Seealso
6 References

Use
Mathematics

Incalculus,afunctionistypically
graphedwiththehorizontalaxis
representingtheindependentvariable
andtheverticalaxisrepresentingthe
dependentvariable. [1]Inthis
function,yisthedependentvariable
andxistheindependentvariable.

Inmathematics,afunctionisarulefortakinganinput(usuallynumberor
setofnumbers)[2]andprovidinganoutput(whichisalsousuallyanumber).[2]Asymbolthatstandsforan
arbitraryinputiscalledanindependentvariable,whileasymbolthatstandsforanarbitraryoutputiscalleda
dependentvariable.[3]Themostcommonsymbolfortheinputisx,andthemostcommonsymbolfortheoutput
isythefunctionitselfiscommonlywritten
.[3][4]
Itispossibletohavemultipleindependentvariablesand/ormultipledependentvariables.Forinstance,in
multivariablecalculus,oneoftenencountersfunctionsoftheform
,wherezisadependentvariable
andxandyareindependentvariables.[5]Functionswithmultipleoutputsareoftenwrittenasvectorvalued
functions.
Inadvancedmathematics,afunctionbetweenasetXandasetYisasubsetoftheCartesianproduct
such
thateveryelementofXappearsinanorderedpairwithexactlyoneelementofY.Inthissituation,asymbol
representinganelementofXmaybecalledanindependentvariableandasymbolrepresentinganelementofY
maybecalledadependentvariable,suchaswhenXisamanifoldandthesymbolxrepresentsanarbitrarypointin
themanifold.[6]However,manyadvancedtextbooksdonotdistinguishbetweendependentandindependent
variables.[7]

Statistics
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Inastatisticsexperiment,thedependentvariableistheeventstudiedandexpectedtochangewheneverthe
independentvariableisaltered.[8]
Indataminingtools(formultivariatestatisticsandmachinelearning),thedependingvariableisassignedaroleas
targetvariable(orinsometoolsaslabelattribute),whileadependentvariablemaybeassignedaroleasregular
variable.[9]Knownvaluesforthetargetvariableareprovidedforthetrainingdatasetandtestdataset,butshould
bepredictedforotherdata.Thetargetvariableisusedinsupervisedlearningalgorithmsbutnotinnonsupervised
learning.

Modelling
Inmathematicalmodelling,thedependentvariableisstudiedtoseeifandhowmuchitvariesastheindependent
variablesvary.Inthesimplestochasticlinearmodel
theterm istheithvalueofthe
dependentvariableand isithvalueoftheindependentvariable.Theterm isknownasthe"error"and
containsthevariabilityofthedependentvariablenotexplainedbytheindependentvariable.
Withmultipleindependentvariables,theexpressionis:
numberofindependentvariables.

,wherenisthe

Simulation
Insimulation,thedependentvariableischangedinresponsetochangesintheindependentvariables.

Statisticssynonyms
Anindependentvariableisalsoknownasa"predictorvariable","regressor","controlledvariable","manipulated
variable","explanatoryvariable","exposurevariable"(seereliabilitytheory),"riskfactor"(seemedicalstatistics),
"feature"(inmachinelearningandpatternrecognition)oran"inputvariable."[10][11]
Adependentvariableisalsoknownasa"responsevariable","regressand","predictedvariable","measured
variable","explainedvariable","experimentalvariable","respondingvariable","outcomevariable",and"output
variable".[11]
"Explanatoryvariable"ispreferredbysomeauthorsover"independentvariable"whenthequantitiestreatedas
"independentvariables"maynotbestatisticallyindependent.[12][13]Iftheindependentvariableisreferredtoasan
"explanatoryvariable"thentheterm"responsevariable"ispreferredbysomeauthorsforthedependent
variable.[11][12][13]
"Explainedvariable"ispreferredbysomeauthorsover"dependentvariable"whenthequantitiestreatedas
"dependentvariables"maynotbestatisticallydependent.[14]Ifthedependentvariableisreferredtoasan
"explainedvariable"thentheterm"predictorvariable"ispreferredbysomeauthorsfortheindependent
variable.[14]
Variablesmayalsobereferredtobytheirform:continuous,binary/dichotomous,nominalcategorical,andordinal
categorical,amongothers.

Othervariables
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Avariablemaybethoughttoalterthedependentorindependentvariables,butmaynotactuallybethefocusofthe
experiment.Sothatvariablewillbekeptconstantormonitoredtotrytominimiseitseffectontheexperiment.
Suchvariablesmaybedesignatedaseithera"controlledvariable","controlvariable",or"extraneousvariable".
Extraneousvariables,ifincludedinaregressionasindependentvariables,mayaidaresearcherwithaccurate
responseparameterestimation,prediction,andgoodnessoffit,butarenotofsubstantiveinteresttothehypothesis
underexamination.Forexample,inastudyexaminingtheeffectofpostsecondaryeducationonlifetimeearnings,
someextraneousvariablesmightbegender,ethnicity,socialclass,genetics,intelligence,age,andsoforth.A
variableisextraneousonlywhenitcanbeassumed(orshown)toinfluencethedependentvariable.Ifincludedina
regression,itcanimprovethefitofthemodel.Ifitisexcludedfromtheregressionandifithasanonzero
covariancewithoneormoreoftheindependentvariablesofinterest,itsomissionwillbiastheregression'sresult
fortheeffectofthatindependentvariableofinterest.Thiseffectiscalledconfoundingoromittedvariablebiasin
thesesituations,designchangesand/orstatisticalcontrolisnecessary.
Extraneousvariablesareoftenclassifiedintothreetypes:
1.Subjectvariables,whicharethecharacteristicsoftheindividualsbeingstudiedthatmightaffecttheir
actions.Thesevariablesincludeage,gender,healthstatus,mood,background,etc.
2.Blockingvariablesorexperimentalvariablesarecharacteristicsofthepersonsconductingtheexperiment
whichmightinfluencehowapersonbehaves.Gender,thepresenceofracialdiscrimination,language,or
otherfactorsmayqualifyassuchvariables.
3.Situationalvariablesarefeaturesoftheenvironmentinwhichthestudyorresearchwasconducted,which
haveabearingontheoutcomeoftheexperimentinanegativeway.Includedaretheairtemperature,levelof
activity,lighting,andthetimeofday.
Inquasiexperiments,differentiatingbetweendependentandothervariablesmaybedownplayedinfavourof
differentiatingbetweenthosevariablesthatcanbealteredbytheresearcherandthosethatcannot.Variablesin
quasiexperimentsmaybereferredtoas"extraneousvariables","subjectvariables","blockingvariables",
"situationalvariables","pseudoindependentvariables","expostfactovariables","naturalgroupvariables"or
"nonmanipulatedvariables".
Inmodelling,variabilitythatisnotcoveredbytheindependentvariableisdesignatedby andisknownasthe
"residual","sideeffect","error","unexplainedshare","residualvariable",or"tolerance".

Examples
EffectsofvitaminConlifespan
InastudywhethertakingvitaminCpillsdailymakepeoplelivelonger,researcherswilldictatethevitamin
Cintakeofagroupofpeopleovertime.OnepartofthegroupwillbegivenvitaminCpillsdaily.Theother
partofthegroupwillbegivenaplacebopill.Nobodyinthegroupknowswhichparttheyarein.The
researcherswillcheckthelifespanofthepeopleinbothgroups.Here,thedependentvariableisthelifespan
andtheindependentvariableisabinaryvariablefortheuseornonuseofvitaminC.
Effectoffertilizeronplantgrowth
Inastudymeasuringtheinfluenceofdifferentquantitiesoffertilizeronplantgrowth,theindependent
variablewouldbetheamountoffertilizerused.Thedependentvariablewouldbethegrowthinheightor
massoftheplant.Thecontrolledvariableswouldbethetypeofplant,thetypeoffertilizer,theamountof
sunlighttheplantgets,thesizeofthepots,etc.
Effectofdrugdosageonsymptomseverity
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Inastudyofhowdifferentdosesofadrugaffecttheseverityofsymptoms,aresearchercouldcomparethe
frequencyandintensityofsymptomswhendifferentdosesareadministered.Heretheindependentvariable
isthedoseandthedependentvariableisthefrequency/intensityofsymptoms.
Effectoftemperatureonpigmentation
Inmeasuringtheamountofcolorremovedfrombeetrootsamplesatdifferenttemperatures,temperatureis
theindependentvariableandamountofpigmentremovedisthedependentvariable.
Effectofeducationonwealth
Insociology,inmeasuringtheeffectofeducationonincomeorwealth,thedependentvariableislevelof
income/wealthandtheindependentvariableistheeducationleveloftheindividual.

Seealso
Abscissa
Ordinate
Blocking(statistics)

References
1.Hastings,NancyBaxter.Workshopcalculus:guided
explorationwithreview.Vol.2.SpringerScience&
BusinessMedia,1998.p.31
2.Carlson,Robert.Aconcreteintroductiontoreal
analysis.CRCPress,2006.p.183
3.Stewart,James.Calculus.CengageLearning,2011.
Section1.1
4.Anton,Howard,IrlC.Bivens,andStephenDavis.
CalculusSingleVariable.JohnWiley&Sons,2012.
Section0.1
5.Larson,Ron,andBruceEdwards.Calculus.Cengage
Learning,2009.Section13.1
6.Hrbacek,Karel,andThomasJech.IntroductiontoSet
Theory,RevisedandExpanded.Vol.220.CrcPress,
1999.p.26
7.Forinstance,aGoogleBookssearchfor"independent
variable"onMar18,2015broughtup0hitsinthe
followingadvancedtextbooks:
Munkres,JamesR.Topology:afirstcourse.
Vol.23.EnglewoodCliffs,NJ:PrenticeHall,
1975.
Hungerford,Thomas.Abstractalgebra:an
introduction.CengageLearning,2012.
Abbott,Stephen.Understandinganalysis.
SpringerScience&BusinessMedia,2010.
8.RandomHouseWebster'sUnabridgedDictionary.

8.RandomHouseWebster'sUnabridgedDictionary.
RandomHouse,Inc.2001.Page534,971.ISBN0375
425667.
9.EnglishManualversion1.0(http://1xltkxylmzx3z8gd64
7akcdvov.wpengine.netdnacdn.com/wpcontent/upload
s/2013/10/rapidminer5.0manualenglish_v1.0.pdf)for
RapidMiner5.0,October2013.
10.Dodge,Y.(2003)TheOxfordDictionaryofStatistical
Terms,OUP.ISBN0199206139(entryfor
"independentvariable")
11.Dodge,Y.(2003)TheOxfordDictionaryofStatistical
Terms,OUP.ISBN0199206139(entryfor
"regression")
12.Everitt,B.S.(2002)CambridgeDictionaryofStatistics,
CUP.ISBN052181099X
13.Dodge,Y.(2003)TheOxfordDictionaryofStatistical
Terms,OUP.ISBN0199206139
14.AshNarayanSah(2009)DataAnalysisUsing
MicrosoftExcel,NewDelhi.ISBN9788174467164

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title=Dependent_and_independent_variables&oldid=722481034"
Categories: Designofexperiments Regressionanalysis
Mathematicalterminology Independence(probabilitytheory)
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