NRS 433 Compare independent variables, dependent variables, and extraneous variables

Variables are the key features for method of inquiry during a science experiment. Experimental methods objectively investigate a hypothesis or research question in order to avoid any bias. The independent variable is the variable which is manipulated in an attempt to have a direct effect on the dependent variable. The dependent variable is the part of the experiment which is being tested and measured and is ‘dependent’ on the independent variable (McLeod, 2019).

Extraneous variables are the undesirable variables, which is of no particular interest to the researcher, and may influence the outcome of an experiment. Confounding variables are a type of extraneous variable which directly affects how the independent variable acts on the dependent variable. It can lead the researcher to think there is a cause and effect where there is not. Controlling extraneous variables can be done with random sampling. Although random sampling does not completely exclude any extraneous variables, it does help with equality within all groups (Statistics How To, 2019). Randomized control groups allow chance to select the groups so any confounding variable can be cancelled out, as long as there is a large enough sample group (Shuttleworth, 2009). Another way the researcher can attempt to control extraneous variables is matching during selection of the study sample. Matching equates participants on the variables being controlled such as age or gender. It involves balancing subjects from a set of background variables before assigning them to the experiment (Extraneous variables and control techniques, n.d.).

References

Extraneous variables and control techniques. (n.d.). Extraneous variables and control techniques. Retrieved from http://resourcecentre.foodrisc.org/medialibrary/2013/05/10/c504834b/Extraneous%20variables%20and%20control%20techniques.pdf.

McLeod, S. (2019, August 1). What are independent and dependent variables? Retrieved from Simply Psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/variables.html

Shuttleworth, M. (2009, March 12). Randomized controlled trials. Retrieved from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/randomized-controlled-trials

Click here to ORDER an A++ paper from our Verified MASTERS and DOCTORATE WRITERS NRS 433 Compare independent variables, dependent variables, and extraneous variables:

Independent variables are something that can be manipulated in a research study. It is checking to see if you make changes to the study will it have the same/different effect. (Cherry 2020). For example, if you are doing a medication study giving a high dose, low dose, and placebo, you are manipulating the outcome of the study because you are controlling the outcome. A dependent variable is something that is being tested in a study, the dependent variable would be measuring blood pressures against medication use, the dependent would be blood pressure results. (Cherry 2022) The dependent and independent variable works together for example the independent would be the amount of blood pressure medications given to the person and the dependent is blood pressure results. The change comes with the manipulated variable if the patient receives a high dose of blood pressure meds the blood pressure will be lower compared to not receiving any and having no change. The extraneous variable is any variable that is not being tested but it can affect the outcome of the study, it is uncontrolled and can lead to not valid results. (Zach 2020) for example like the other example blood pressure meds and results of blood measure, the extraneous variable would be if the participants are diets and exercising that can affect the results or if the patient is consuming extra salt, you didn’t plan on including that in your research, but it can change results if these things are happening. To controlled extraneous variables, you must know what type of study is being done. One method is random sampling which you will divide up the controlled group and experimental group by doing a random name draw. They can also do the standardized procedure which can basically equal out the environment for everyone. For example, with the blood pressure and medication study, the participants can either start diets and exercising or that can make another controlled group.

Article- Comparison between Field Research and Controlled Laboratory Research

Article- Be Like Water: Robustness to Extraneous Variables Via Adaptive Feature Normalization

Aziz, H April 2017, Comparison between Field Research and Controlled Laboratory Research (fortuneonline.org)

Cherry, Kendra May 17, 2020, What Is an Independent Variable? (verywellmind.com)

Cherry, Kendra Feb. 14, 2022, What Is a Dependent Variable? (verywellmind.com)

Kaku, A. Feb. 2020, Be Like Water: Robustness to Extraneous Variables Via Adaptive Feature Normalization (arxiv.org)

Zach, Sept. 14, 2020, Extraneous Variable: Definition & Examples – Scatology

During an experiment there are many ways and changes that researchers can make to test different things and set up the experiment to be beneficial towards their research. The main way they do this is by utilizing variables to look at the relationship between things in their experiment. The independent variable is the variable that researchers change and focus on while looking at the relationship between it and other variables (Kaliyadan & Kulkarni, 2019). The dependent variable is the variable that researchers leave the same and is also used to look at the relationship between it and the independent variable (Kaliyada & Kulkarni, 2019). An extraneous variable is a variable that acts on the dependent or independent variable that researchers did not consider (Kaliyada & Kulkarni, 2019). Logistical regression and Statistical stratification are two ways researchers can limit the effects of extraneous variables on an experiment (Pourhoseingholi et al., 2012). Logistic regression helps control multiple extraneous variables at the same time in a large group, while statistical stratification controls an extraneous variable by placing participants into many smaller groups to limit the effects (Pourhoseingholi et al., 2012).

NRS 433 Compare independent variables, dependent variables, and extraneous variables

References

Kaliyadan, F., & Kulkarni, V. (2019). Types of variables, descriptive statistics, and sample size. Indian dermatology online journal, 10(1), 82–86. https://doi.org/10.4103/idoj.IDOJ_468_18

Pourhoseingholi, M. A., Baghestani, A. R., & Vahedi, M. (2012). How to control confounding effects by statistical analysis. Gastroenterology and hepatology from bed to bench, 5(2), 79–83.

The term variable is probably the most used term among researchers and according to definition, this term can be used to refer items such as characteristic such as age, gender ,numbers, properties or any quality that can be measured . Variables can be manipulated to change the desired outcome of research. There are different types of variables but the main ones are dependent, independent, and extraneous. To elaborate the main purpose variable one should understand is the cause of the phenomena. The presumed cause in the cause of effect relationship is called the independent variable and the presumed effect is called dependant variable. In other words, the independent variable is presumed to have to influence on dependent variable. For example, Study conducted by Royal, et, al (2015) , examined the relationship between loss of control over eating (LOCE) and other variables, including eating pathology, in bariatric candidates. Here independent variable, – eating patterns such as night eating, alcoholism, BMI, depression , overall physical and mental health status Independent variable – eating patterns such as night eating, alcoholism, BMI, depression , overall physical and mental health status “Flannelly, et,al (2014),

One of the main difference between the variable is that the independent variableis the variable that can be manipulated to determine the dependent variables’ value. An independent variable can stand alone. The dependent variable is dependent on the independent variable. The dependent variable changes only in relation to the independent variable, The extraneous variable is unknown when beginning a research study, but it shows itself in time. Many times, an extraneous variable is an unwanted variable and can skew the results of a research study. Extraneous variables are why a researcher cannot state there is 100% certainty that there is causation within the research. One example of an extraneous variable is researcher bias or manipulation

Flannelly, L., Flannelly, K., & Jankowski, K. B. (2014). Independent, Dependent, and Other Variables in Healthcare and Chaplaincy Research. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 20(4), 161–170. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/08854726.2014.959374

Royal, S., Wnuk, S., Warwick, K., Hawa, R., & Sockalingam, S. (2015). Night eating and loss of control over eating in bariatric surgery candidates. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 22(1), 14–19. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10880-014-9411-6

NRS 433 Compare independent variables, dependent variables, and extraneous variables