Joey wants to see how the amount of TV watching affects grades. He surveys 100 high school students about the number of hours they watch TV during the week and also their grades. He makes sure that all the students he surveys are freshmen and go to the same class.

Question

a.
: amount of TV watching
b.
: grades
c.
: students who are freshmen and go to the same class
answers are dependent variables independent variables controlled variables

Answer 1

In Joey's survey:

a. Amount of TV watching - This is the independent variable because it is the factor that Joey is changing or manipulating to see how it affects grades.

b. Grades - This is the dependent variable because it is the outcome that Joey is measuring or observing in response to changes in the amount of TV watching.

c. Students who are freshmen and go to the same class - This represents the controlled variables (or constants) because these conditions are kept the same across all participants in the study to ensure that any observed effects on grades can be attributed to the amount of TV watching rather than differences in student background or class environment.