dependent variable
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variable
[var´e-ah-b'l]something that changes; an attribute or property of a person, event, or object that is known to vary in a given study.
dependent variable in a mathematical equation or relationship between two or more variables, a variable whose value depends on those of others; it represents a response, behavior, or outcome that the researcher wishes to predict or explain.
extraneous variable a factor that is not itself under study but affects the measurement of the study variables or the examination of their relationships.
independent variable in a mathematical equation or relationship between two or more variables, any variable whose value determines that of others; it represents the treatment or experimental variable that is manipulated by the researcher to create an effect on the dependent variable.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
de·pen·dent var·i·a·ble
in experiments, a variable that is influenced by or dependent on changes in the independent variable; for example, the amount of a written passage retained (dependent variable) as a function of the different numbers of minutes (independent variable) allowed to study the passage.
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
dependent variable
An objective finding measured in an experiment that is expected to change as a result of an experimental manipulation of the independent variable(s).Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
dependent variable
Epidemiology An outcome variable/variables that reflects other, independent, variables in the relationship being studied. See Variable.McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.