Question

Priya is conducting an experiment to see if people are more anxious when they're in a crowd of people or if they're alone. She divides her participants into two groups. With one group she has all of her participants take an anxiety questionnaire together in one small room. With the other group of participants she has them take the anxiety questionnaire by themselves, one at a time, in the same room. She then looks at the anxiety scores of every participant to see if they are influenced by her two different conditions. In this experiment, what is the independent variable

Answer 1

Answer:

In this experiment, the independent variable is the participant either being alone or in a room with others.

Explanation:

In a study like the one described in the question, the dependent variable is what is being measured by the study. In this case, the dependent variable is people's level of anxiety.

The independent variable is something that is changed or controlled in order to affect the dependent variable. In this case, Priya is controlling the environment. Some participants are interviewed alone while others are interviewed in small groups. She wishes to see how the environment will affect their level of anxiety. Therefore, the independent variable is being alone / being in a group.