The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
An independent variable is the variable that is acted upon by a function. In the traditional variable set-up of an equation like y = 3x + 7 or y = x3, x is the independent variable. That is, y depends upon x. Often, equations can be rewritten so that the independent variable appears to be the dependent one and vice versa. However, in statistical and scientific contexts, it usually becomes clear from the context of the application of the equation which is which.
In an experimental setting, the independent variable is the one that a researcher can set himself or herself. For example, if one is examining the magnitude of gravitational attraction between bodies as a function of the mass of one of those bodies, the mass would be the independent variable, the part the researcher can change with impunity. In other words, this is the source of direct change in the experiment. It is also sometimes called the "control" variable, while the dependent variable is the "experimental" variable.
In many situations, there will be more than one independent variable for a dependent variable. These are usually designed so that each can be changed independently of each other, with whatever convolutions are necessary. Each function can have many different partial derivatives that are taken with respect to the separate independent variables. In a properly designed experiment, the independent variable parameters will be varied separately from each other so that the effects of each are clear. Real world situations rarely reflect a properly designed experiment.