A researcher is interested in studying the effects of a new natural sleeping aid on children ages 5–10. She will randomly assign half of the participants to take the sleeping aid an hour before their bedtime, while the other half will not take the sleeping aid. She will have parents record the number of hours their child slept each night over the course of four months.

Question

Which of the following elements is the dependent variable in this study?

Option #1: the natural sleeping aid

Option #2: the age of the participant

Option #3: the number of hours slept

Answer 1

The dependent variable in this study is Option #3: the number of hours slept.

The dependent variable is the outcome that the researcher measures to assess the effects of the independent variable, which in this case is whether or not the participants take the natural sleeping aid.