Dependent and Independent Variables & Examples

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For the sake of smoothness during the research, you must really understand the variables contained in the research. At least, there are two main variables in the study, namely the independent and dependent variables.

If you do not understand these two variables, then you will have difficulty during the research. Well what the hell what do these two variables actually mean? Let's read to the end!

List of contents

Definition of Variable

Variable Types

Before discussing further what the dependent and independent variables are, you need to know the definition of the variable first.

A variable is anything that can have different and distinguishable values. The value can change at different times on the same object, or at the same time with different objects.

There are many types of variables, including independent, dependent, intervening, moderator, control variables, and so on. Variables can be discrete (such as male or female) and or continuous (such as wages).

Examples of variables are student motivation, company net profit, content effectiveness, tool capabilities, and so on.

According to science, a variable is an object of research or something to be studied. Meanwhile, according to mathematics, a variable is an alphabet or character that will represent an undetermined amount.

Read: Variable Introduction

Definition of Variables According to Experts

Definition of Variables According to Experts

Sugiyono

According to Sugiyono, variables are defined as everything determined by the researcher in what form only to be studied, so that they can obtain information related to it, then withdrawn the conclusion.

F. N. Kerlinger

Definition of variables according to F. N. Kerlinger is a concept that has changed and has various values.

Sugiarto

The definition of a variable according to Sugiarto is a character that can be observed from the unit of observation and becomes an identifier or attribute of a group of objects. The purpose of the variables mentioned is the occurrence of variations between one object and another object in a certain group.

Hatch and Farhady

A variable is an attribute of an object or person that varies from one object to another or from one person to another.

Moh. Nazir

A variable is a concept that has various values.

Dr. Ahmad Watik Pratiknya

Variable is a concept that has variability. Meanwhile, the concept is an abstraction or description of a particular phenomenon. The concept can be anything, as long as it has various characteristics, so it can be considered as a variable.

In short, a variable can be defined as anything that varies.

Dr. Soekidjo Notoatmodjo

According to Dr. Soekidjo Notoatmodjo, variables can be divided into 2 (two), namely:

  • Variables that contain the notion of size or characteristics possessed by members of a group that are not owned by other groups.
  • A variable is something that is used as a trait, characteristic, or measure that is owned/obtained from a research on a particular concept.

Variable Types

Variable Types

1. Independent variable or independent

The independent variable or referred to as the independent variable is a variable that can influence or cause changes to the factors measured by the researcher (the dependent variable). If the independent variable changes, the dependent or dependent variable will also change.

The independent variable is selected, measured, or manipulated by the researcher to determine the relationship with the symptoms being observed. The independent variable has several characteristics, namely:

  • The independent variable is referred to as the argument variable in the equation whose value determines the dependent variable: y = f (X), where x is the independent variable.
  • Independent variables are also known as predictive variables in statistics. Predictive variables are variables that intentionally manipulate the experiment to observe the relationship with other quantities or that determine different conditions in the experiment.
  • Independent variables have the potential for complexity because they are often the things that confuse many people. Many assume that the independent variable does not depend on any manipulation.

In this study, the independent variable was chosen by the researcher in accordance with the research hypothesis to be tested. The researcher believes that the selected independent variable may have a cause or effect on the process being studied.

2. Dependent or dependent variable

The dependent variable is the variable that is measured in an experiment. Referred to as dependent because this variable depends on the independent variable. In a scientific experiment, the researcher cannot have the dependent variable without the independent variable.

The independent variable is also called the output variable, consequential, or criteria. The dependent variable is called the affected variable because it is an independent variable. This variable cannot change unless there are things that affect it. There are several characteristics of the dependent or dependent variable, namely:

  • The dependent variable refers to the type of variable that measures the effect of the independent variable in the experiment.
  • The researcher decides to measure the dependent variable because according to the researcher the dependent variable reflects the process that should be influenced by the independent variable.
  • This variable is said to be the dependent variable because it is considered dependent on the variation of the independent variable.

Examples of the most common dependent variables are time and age. The reason, there is nothing that can be done to slow down and speed up time.

3. Intervening or mediating variables

Intervening variables can be explained as variables that affect the relationship between the independent and dependent variables into an indirect relationship.

Intervening variables are variables that can strengthen and weaken the relationship between variables, but cannot be observed or measured. Intervening or mediating variables are between the independent and dependent variables.

That way, the dependent variable cannot be directly affected by the independent variable. Examples of intervening variables, namely:

The influence of the amount of education costs that need to be spent by parents on the student's lifestyle and will have an impact on the GPA.

  • Total tuition fees (independent variable).
  • Student GPA (dependent variable).
  • Lifestyle (intervening variable).

4. moderator variable

The moderator variable is the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. This moderator variable can be used to strengthen or weaken the relationship between variables.

From this explanation, it is known that the moderator variable is a third party variable that can modify the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable.

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The purpose of the moderating variable is to measure the strength of the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. For example, if age is the moderating variable, salary is the independent variable, and the health examination fee is the dependent variable.

Thus, the relationship between salary and medical examination costs for older people will be greater than for younger people.

The independent variable and the dependent variable will be explained further in this article. Therefore, read to the end yes!

Read: One Variable Linear Absolute Value Equation

Characteristics of Research Variables

Characteristics of Research Variables

1. Variables have different values

Variables must have different values ​​because their role is to differentiate between one object and another object that is still in the same population. For example, you want to do research related to 25 students and their GPA.

So, the GPA of the 25 people must have a variety of values. If there are no variations or have the same GPA, then the GPA does not meet the requirements to enter into the variable concept.

Another example is if a population living in an area has the same profession, then the profession is not a variable.

2. Variables distinguish one object from another

Objects can be members of the population because they have the same characteristics. Even though there are similarities, there are still differences between objects in the population in a variable.

For example, the student population consists of members who have one thing in common, namely students. However, every student has differences in terms of intelligence, motivation, work, talent, achievement, background, and so on.

That difference is called a variable because it serves as a differentiator between objects in the student population.

3. Variables must be measurable

Variable is a form of operationalization of the concept. Unlike concepts, variables are measurable. For example, learning is a concept, then learning outcomes are the variables. Another example is students as a concept, so the number of students is the variable.

Therefore, the research variable must be something that can be measured and observed, for example, you want to researching about learning achievement, then the number of correct answers when taking the test is an the indicator.

Dependent Variable

Dependent Variable

1. Definition of Dependent Variable

The dependent or dependent variable is something that is measured in research. This variable is called "bound" because of its association with the independent variable. That is, you will not have a dependent variable without an independent variable.

Because of the attachment, it means that every change that occurs in the dependent variable is caused by the independent variable.

The dependent variable is a variable that is highly considered by researchers. Their goal is to explain the spread (variability), understand, describe, predict the value, and know the value of the dependent variable.

It can be said that the dependent variable is the main variable that is suitable for research as a feasible factor.

If carrying out an analysis on the dependent variable or what variables affect it, then there is a possibility to get answers or solutions to the problems raised in the research You.

2. Dependent Variable Characteristics

Homogeneous

The dependent variable is homogeneous and is defined as a function of a continuous parameter, such as a spectra or chromatogram, because of the high correlation among the neighboring predictors, it would be better to choose a group of variables rather than one, within one time.

predictive

This is because the dependent variable has values ​​that are assumed or predicted by the predictor variable or are independent.

The change is influenced by the independent variable

As the name suggests, the dependent variable will always be affected by the independent variable. Therefore, when the researcher makes changes to the independent variable, the dependent variable will also change automatically. It can be concluded, this variable depends on the independent variable.

Endogenous

In Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the dependent variable is called the endogenous variable.

As a variable being tested or measured in an experiment

In an experiment or experiment, the dependent variable becomes the variable being measured. For example, in a case study that examines how tutoring (les) affects test scores. So, the dependent variable is the test taker's score, because that is what is being measured.

Has a wide variety

The dependent variable is something that varies in response to changes in other variables. In psychological research, the dependent variable is a measure of certain aspects of the behavior of research participants.

Also called target variable

On tools data mining in multivariate statistics and machine learning, the dependent variable acts as the target variable, while the independent variable acts as a regular variable.

Usually, target variables are used in supervised learning algorithms, but not in unsupervised learning.

Has many other names

Another name for the dependent variable is the dependent variable, output, consequential, response, regression, measurable, observed, outcome, explained, experimental, or criteria.

3. How to Create a Dependent Variable

  1. Observe and pay close attention, which variables affect and which variables are influenced by other variables.
  2. To ensure the truth, make a causal sentence (cause and effect) with the independent variable as the cause and the dependent variable as the result.
  3. For example, "The Effect of Water Type on Plant Growth" then the dependent is plant growth and the independent is water type.

Read: Two-variable Quadratic Linear Equation System

Independent Variable

Independent Variable

1. Definition of Independent Variable

The independent or independent variable is one of the variables that affects the dependent variable, either positively or negatively and with low, medium, or high intensity.

When this variable is used during research, there must be a dependent variable that it influences. So, every increase or decrease in the independent variable, can cause changes in the dependent variable.

It can be said that variance or the spread of the value of the dependent variable is calculated using the independent variable.

There are four things that must be met so that you can find out whether the independent variable is able to influence the dependent variable. These four things are:

  1. The dependent variable and the independent variable should change at the same time.
  2. Changes in the independent variable should precede changes in the dependent variable.
  3. It is better that there are no other factors (outside the independent variables) that cause changes in the dependent variable. Therefore, researchers must be able to control the intervening variables and moderating variables.
  4. There is a logical theoretical explanation to explain why the independent variable is able to influence the dependent variable.

2. Characteristics of Independent Variables

  1. These variables are called inputs for the function and are traditionally plotted on the x-axis of the graph.
  2. It has various other names, namely independent variable, predictor, exposure, explanatory, or risk factor.
  3. It is sometimes called a "grouping" variable because each group has a certain level or value of this variable.

All members of each group will receive or participate in the same intervention, but it will be different for different groups.

3. How to Create Independent Variables

Use the formula “[the dependent variable] is influenced by [the independent variable] and [the independent variable] is not likely to be influenced by the [dependent variable]”

For example, "Plant fertility is affected by the amount of water and the amount of water is unlikely to be affected by plant fertility" (TRUE) and “The amount of water is affected by the fertility of the plant and the fertility of the plant cannot be affected by the amount of water” (WRONG).

By entering the name of the variable to be used in the sentence, it can help you to identify the type of variable.

That's the understanding, characteristics, and how to create independent and dependent variables that can make it easier for you to understand the variables contained in the study. Because the determination of variables is sometimes tricky, Don't forget to always discuss and ask questions, OK!

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