Control variable

How it is used

Common in quantitative research, regression models, and experimental design when age, income, prior scores, or context may affect results.

Example sentences

1. We treated parental education as a control variable so the model could estimate the effect of tutoring more fairly.

   In this sentence, the variable is not the main focus; it is added to reduce distortion in the estimated relationship.

2. The article reports gender and work experience as control variables in the final regression table on salary growth.

   Here the term names background factors that are statistically held into account while interpreting the main predictors.

Common collocations

• include a control variable
• control variable in the model
• use age as a control variable

Related terms

• dataFacts, numbers, recordings, texts or observations collected in a study and then analyzed to answer a research question.
• analysisDetailed examination of data or a text in order to identify patterns, relationships or meaning, often using statistical or qualitative techniques.

More terms: Data and Analysis

• findings
• significant
• draw a conclusion
• correlation
• thematic analysis
• account for
• interpret
• dataset
• mean
• standard deviation
• descriptive statistics
• p-value