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Psychology vocabulary · Research Methods and Statistics

Independent variable

Meaning in psychology, with examples

nounCore term

In psychology, independent variable means: The factor that a researcher deliberately changes or compares in a study to see whether it causes changes in another variable.

In Turkish: bağımsız değişken

How it is used

Often shortened to IV in lab reports and lectures. Researchers manipulate the independent variable and measure the dependent variable; each value of the IV is called a level or condition.

Example sentences

  1. The independent variable was the type of feedback: positive, negative or none.

  2. Make sure your independent variable has at least two clearly different levels.

Common collocations

  • manipulate the independent variable
  • levels of the independent variable
  • independent variable (IV)
  • dependent variableThe outcome that a researcher measures in a study to see whether it is affected by changes in the independent variable.
  • experimentA study in which the researcher deliberately changes one factor and measures the effect on another, while keeping other conditions as constant as possible.
  • confounding variableAn extra variable linked to both the supposed cause and the outcome, so that it may explain an apparent effect instead of the variable being studied.
  • control groupThe group in a study that does not receive the treatment or manipulation being tested, so that its results can be compared with those of the group that does.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Research Methods and Statistics

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