Dr. Patel does an experiment in which she shows people either a happy movie, a sad movie, or no movie in a classroom. Then, she
asks them to fill out a survey assessing their feelings about whether they want to adopt a pet from the animal shelter. In this experiment, what is the INDEPENDENT variablea. The participantsb. The classroom locationc. Their feelings about pet adoptiond. How long the movie lastse. The type of movie viewed
In experimental studies, an independent variable is expected to affect a dependent variable. In this example, the type of movie viewed is predicted to affect the participant's feelings about pet adoption. That means:
Type of movie viewed = Independent variable
Feelings about adoption = Dependent variable
An easy way to remember the difference is to say: independent causes change in dependent.
