Extraneous variables are those that produce an association between two variables that are not causally related . Confounding variables are similar to extraneous variables, the difference being that they are affecting two variables that are not spuriously related. ...
What is extraneous variable?
Extraneous variables are all variables , which are not the independent variable, but could affect the results of the experiment. ... Hence, all the other variables that could affect the dependent variable to change must be controlled. These other variables are called extraneous or confounding variables.
What is confounding or extraneous variable in research?
An extraneous variable is any variable that you're not investigating that can potentially affect the dependent variable of your research study. A confounding variable is a type of extraneous variable that not only affects the dependent variable, but is also related to the independent variable.
What is an example of extraneous variable?
For example, if a participant is taking a test in a chilly room, the temperature would be considered an extraneous variable. Some participants may not be affected by the cold, but others might be distracted or annoyed by the temperature of the room.
Can confounding variable be extraneous?
Extraneous vs confounding variables
A confounding variable is a type of extraneous variable that is associated with both the independent and dependent variables. An extraneous variable is anything that could influence the dependent variable .
What are examples of confounding variables?
For example, the use of placebos, or random assignment to groups. So you really can't say for sure whether lack of exercise leads to weight gain. One confounding variable is how much people eat . It's also possible that men eat more than women; this could also make sex a confounding variable.
What are the 5 types of variables?
- Independent variables. An independent variable is a singular characteristic that the other variables in your experiment cannot change. ...
- Dependent variables. ...
- Intervening variables. ...
- Moderating variables. ...
- Control variables. ...
- Extraneous variables. ...
- Quantitative variables. ...
- Qualitative variables.
How do you find extraneous variables?
Extraneous variables could include prior knowledge of statistics ; you would have to make sure that group A roughly matched group B with prior knowledge before starting the study. Other extraneous variables could include amount of support in the home, socio-economic income, or temperature of the testing room.
What are the three general ways of controlling extraneous variables?
- Randomization: In this approach, treatments are randomly assigned to the experimental groups. ...
- Matching: Another important technique is to match the different groups of confounding variables.
Is age an extraneous variable?
Extraneous variables are variables other than the independent variable that may bear any effect on the behaviour of the subject being studied. These variables include age, gender, health status, mood, background, etc. ...
What are the 3 types of variables?
These changing quantities are called variables. A variable is any factor, trait, or condition that can exist in differing amounts or types. An experiment usually has three kinds of variables: independent, dependent, and controlled .
Do extraneous variables affect validity?
Any variable that you are not intentionally studying in your dissertation is an extraneous variable that could threaten the internal validity of your results [see the article: Internal validity]. This threatens the internal validity of your results. ...
How do you reduce extraneous variables?
An extraneous variable is eliminated, for example, if background noise that might reduce the audibility of speech is removed. Unknown extraneous variables can be controlled by randomization . Randomization ensures that the expected values of the extraneous variables are identical under different conditions.
Is time of day a confounding variable?
This third variable could be anything such as the time of day or the weather outside. In this situation, it is indeed the weather that acts as the confound and creates this correlation. ... Confounding bias is the result of the presence of confounding variables in your experiment.
How do you identify a confounding variable?
Identifying Confounding
A simple, direct way to determine whether a given risk factor caused confounding is to compare the estimated measure of association before and after adjusting for confounding . In other words, compute the measure of association both before and after adjusting for a potential confounding factor.
Is gender a confounding variable?
Numerical example
Two variables (e.g., age and gender) were considered potential confounding variables, because both were known risk factors for the outcome of interest.
