What is the dependent variable in the following scenario: A professor wonders if her students will improve their test scores if they study in the same room where they will test. She divides her class in half and asks them to all study for one hour the night before the test. Half of the class studies for one hour in the classroom where the test will take place. The other half of the class studies wherever they want. She compares their grades on the test to see which group did better.



Answer :

In any experiment, you can define the independent variable (or variables) as any factor that is considered to affect directly the object of study, and the dependent variable is the effect observed.

In this scenario, the professor thinks that the place where the students study affects the result of their exams.

Out of these two variables "the result in the exam" is the observed effect, and thus, the dependent variable and the "location where the student studies" is the factor that affects it, therefore it is the independent variable.