Definition of Dependent Variable
Example of Dependent Variable
- To determine the relationship between age and yearly income, age is the independent variable and yearly income is the dependent variable, because an individual’s income cannot change their age but their age can change their income. For example, a 12-year old typically has a lower yearly income than a 30-year old.
Dependent Variable Pronunciation
- IPA Pronunciation
- Syllabification: (de·pen·dent var·i·a·ble)
- Plural: dependent variables
- The variable to be explained is the dependent variable and the variable that produces the effect being explained is the independent variable.
- In a mathematical equation, the dependent variable is typically represented with a “y.”
- Also called outcome variable.
- Quantitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “dependent” and “variable” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- control group
- descriptive statistics
- empirical evidence
- experimental group
- spurious correlation
Contributor: C. E. Seaman
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ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Seaman, C.E. 2015. “dependent variable.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary, edited by Kenton Bell. Retrieved August 22, 2019 (https://sociologydictionary.org/dependent-variable/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
Seaman, C.E. (2015). dependent variable. In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/dependent-variable/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Seaman, C.E. 2015. “dependent variable.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary, edited by Kenton Bell. Accessed August 22, 2019. https://sociologydictionary.org/dependent-variable/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
Seaman, C.E. “dependent variable.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2015. Web. 22 Aug. 2019. <https://sociologydictionary.org/dependent-variable/>.