Hi, I am struggling to understand dependent and independent variables. Listed be

Question

Hi, I am struggling to understand dependent and independent variables. Listed below is the question that I am wrestling with:

From the way that each of the following statements is phrased, identify the variables in each situation that are the independent and dependent variables.

a) How does interest rates affect people’s spending?

b) Does the ease at which people acquire a second language depend on the age at which they are first exposed to the second language or to the amount of exposure to a second language?

c) How does the management structure of an organization impact employee preferences regarding collaboration and teamwork? In an organization that has historically been very hierarchical and functionally managed, are team members more likely to prefer individualistic work rather than work in a collectivistic culture?

Explanation / Answer

First thing that needs to be understood is the 'what is a dependent and an independent variable?'

In real life scenarios, for dependent variable:

1. The independent variable is something that you want to learn about.

2. It gets affected by other variables.

For example, suppose your test score gets affected by how much time you spend on the subject.

Then, the test score is dependent variable. Since test score is getting affected by time spent.

Similarly, for independent variable is something that affects other variables.

Using this logic, we can answer, the above questions.

CASE: a) How does interest rates affect people’s spending?

Notice the word 'affects'. Here interest rate affects spending.

Spending ---- dependent variable. (Affected by interest rate)

Interest rate --- independent variable.

Case b)Does the ease at which people acquire a second language depend on the age at which they are first exposed to the second language or to the amount of exposure to a second language?

Here the key word is 'depend on'.

ease of learning a second language depends on----- Dependent variable.

It is likely to depend on following two independent variables:

1. The age at which they are first exposed to the second language.

2. The amount of exposure to a second language.

CASE c) How does the management structure of an organization impact employee preferences regarding collaboration and teamwork? In an organization that has historically been very hierarchical and functionally managed, are team members more likely to prefer individualistic work rather than work in a collectivistic culture?

In this case the key word is 'impacts. '.

Note that 'management structure of an organization impact employee preferences regarding collaboration and teamwork'.

So employee preferences is getting impacted by management structure.

Dependent variable: Employee preference (individualistic work or collectivistic culture.)

Independent variable: management structure.(Level of hierarchical and functional management in the organization).

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