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shadow?”. What do you think are the variables involve in this

problem? Before you answer this question, let us first discuss
the different types of variables involve in a cause-and-effect

RESEARCH I study.

What is a Variable?

Quarter 3- Module 2 In research, variables are any characteristics that can

take on different values, such as height, age, species, or exam
VARIABLES score (Thomas, 2021). The variables in a study of a cause-and-
effect relationship are called independent and dependent
Teacher: MARIA SALVE D. BEASON variables.

The independent variable is:

Learning Competency: • The cause;
1. Identify variables that can affect an experimental outcome; • something that is changed by the scientist;
• what is tested; and/or
Learning Objectives:
• what is manipulated.
At the end of this module, the learners are expected to: •
The dependent variable is
1. Define dependent and independent variables;
• the effect;
2. Identify the variables involve in a study;
• something that might be affected by the change
3. Determine the dependent and independent variables in
in the independent variable;
the research problem formulated in module 1.
• what is observed;
INTRODUCTION • what is measured; and/or
In the previous module, you learned how to formulate a • the data collected during the investigation.
research problem. In this module, you will learn how to
identify variables. For example, your problem is “Does the
position of the sun in the sky affect the length of the
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Examples: INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES IN

EXPERIMENTS
1. Do tomatoes grow fastest under fluorescent,
incandescent, or natural light? In experimental research, the independent variable is
manipulated or changed by the experimenter to measure the
Independent variable/s: effect of this change on the dependent variable.
• The type of light the tomato plant is grown under
Example, you are studying the impact of a new
Dependent variable/s: medication on the blood pressure of patients with
hypertension.
• The rate of growth of the tomato plant
To test whether the medication is effective, you divide
2. What is the effect of diet and regular soda on blood your patients into two groups: one group takes the medication,
sugar level? while the other group takes a sugar pill placebo.

Independent variable/s :
Independent variable/s :
• The type of medication (new medication and the
• The type of soda (diet or regular)
sugar pill placebo)
Dependent variable/s:
Dependent variable/s:
• Blood sugar level
• Blood pressure of the patients
3. How does phone use before bedtime affect sleep?
Can you now identify the dependent and independent variable?
Independent variable/s : Try to answer the next activity.
• The number of hours spent in using phone before
bedtime

Dependent variable/s:

• The number of hours of sleep

• The quality of sleep
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TRY THIS! PERFORMANCE TASK

Identify the Dependent and Independent Variables in the
following investigations.
1. Students of different ages were given the same jigsaw
puzzle to put together. They were timed to see how
long it took to finish the puzzle.
Dependent variable/s: _______________________
Independent variable/s: ______________________
Identify the dependent and independent variables in your
problem formulated in module 1.
Identify also the control variable/s. (Control variable is the
element in the study which is not changed throughout the
experiment, because its unchanging state allows the
relationship between the other variables being tested to be
better understood).

2. Which brand of soda contains the most caffeine? REFERENCES

Dependent variable/s: _______________________ McGraw-Hill Inc, 2006
Independent variable/s: ______________________

3. An investigation was done with an electromagnetic

system made from a battery and wire wrapped around
a nail. Different sizes of nails were used. The number
of paperclips the electromagnet could pick up was
measured.
Dependent variable/s: _______________________
Independent variable/s: ______________________