Tom is studying how changes in income affect the frequency
of eating out. In this example, "changes in income" is the independent
variable and "frequency of eating out" is the dependent variable.
The independent and dependent variable are the two main variables in
an experiment. An independent variable is the variable that
is changed or controlled in a scientific experiment to test the effects on the dependent
variable. The element being tried out and measured in a scientific
experiment is the dependent variable.
