Responding - Dependent Variables

The variable that is measured or observed as a result of an experiment is the responding/ dependent variable. This is the data the scientist collects or the observations a scientist records. In the scenario to the right, what is getting measured? Test scores!

It might help to think about what it means to respond to something. Respond means to react . In the case of the music experiment, the students would be reacting to different types of music, that is the music would affect their test scores. So how does dependent come in? Dependent means determined or conditioned by another. So the type of music determined the test score.

Remember, the manipulated/ independent variable comes at the beginning of the experiment and the responding/ dependent variable comes at the end. The dependent variable is responding to the manipulated variable.

Does listening to Different Types of Music Affect Test Scores?

Let's look at a few samples.

Read the science experiment to the below. What gets measured?

How Does Amount of Sunlight Affect Plant Growth?

Try these ones.

A group of 5th grade students wants to know how surface texture affects the speed of a rolling ball. While keeping everything else the same (the control variables), They will change one thing (surface texture). What gets measured?

Distance in centimeters.

A group of students are curious to know how heat affects dissolve rate of Alka-Seltzer. While keeping everything else the same (the control variables), they will change one thing (temperature). What gets measured?

Time in Seconds

Graphing the Responding Dependent Variable

As you may have guessed, Dependent and Responding mean the same thing. They are both used to describe the variable that the scientist measures or observes at the end of an experiment. The mnemonic DRY can help you to remember that Dependent and Responding mean the same thing, and they are graphed on the Y-axis!