Independent variable

How it is used

Abbreviated IV, especially in psychology and education. In regression it is also called a predictor, explanatory variable or covariate, and on a graph it usually goes on the x-axis. Methods sections name the independent and dependent variables explicitly.

Example sentences

1. The independent variable was the type of feedback students received: written or spoken.

2. Plot the independent variable on the x-axis.

Common collocations

• manipulate the independent variable
• levels of the independent variable
• predictor variable
• explanatory variable

Related terms

• dependent variableThe outcome a study measures to see whether it changes when the independent variable changes, such as test scores, sales or recovery time.
• variableAny characteristic that can take different values from one person, object or case to another, such as age, income, gender or test score.
• regressionA family of methods for modelling how an outcome variable changes with one or more predictor variables, used both to explain relationships and to make predictions.
• control groupThe group in an experiment that does not receive the treatment being tested, or receives a placebo or the usual treatment, so that it can be compared with the treatment group.
• confounding variableA third variable that is related to both the independent and the dependent variable and can create a false or distorted impression of the relationship between them.

This word in other fields

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

• independent variable · Psychology

More terms: Data and Variables

• categorical variable
• continuous variable
• observation
• missing data