The independent variable in a study is the variable that's manipulated or changed by the researcher. The dependent variable is the variable that changes in response to manipulation of the independent variable. Let's say that someone wanted to find out if there's a correlation between happiness and participation in a team sport.
If happiness is the dependent variable, the hypothesis would be something like "People who participate in a team sport are happier than those...
The independent variable in a study is the variable that's manipulated or changed by the researcher. The dependent variable is the variable that changes in response to manipulation of the independent variable. Let's say that someone wanted to find out if there's a correlation between happiness and participation in a team sport.
If happiness is the dependent variable, the hypothesis would be something like "People who participate in a team sport are happier than those who don't." For this experiment, the researcher would have an experimental group of people who participate in a team sport and a control group of people who don't participate in team sports but who have other characteristics in common. Participation in a sport would be the independent variable. What the researcher would be measuring is the subjects' happiness, which is the dependent variable. This could be assessed through survey questions, an interview, or observation of behavior.
If happiness is the independent variable, the hypothesis might be "People who are happy are more likely to participate in a team sport." The researcher would group subjects according to their measured or reported levels of happiness. There could be an experimental group that's considered happy and a control group that's not, or several groups with various levels of assessed or reported happiness. The dependent variable would then be the subject's participation or lack thereof in a team sport.
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