Question

Weinstein, McDermott, and Roediger (2010) conducted an experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of different study strategies. One part of the study asked students to prepare for a test by reading a passage. In one condition, students generated and answered questions after reading the passage. In a second condition, students simply read the passage a second time. All students were then given a test on the passage material and the researchers recorded the number of correct answers.

Identify the dependent variable for this study.

Is the dependent variable discrete or continuous?
What scale of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio) is used to measure the dependent variable?

Answer 1

The dependent variable is the number of correct answers on the test, which is a quantitative discrete variable measured on a ratio scale because it includes a true zero point and allows for comparing differences in the number of correct answers.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the experiment conducted by Weinstein, McDermott, and Roediger (2010), the dependent variable is the number of correct answers recorded on the test following the study session. This variable reflects the participants' performance, which is expected to depend on the type of study strategy they used (whether they generated and answered questions after reading or simply read the passage a second time).

The dependent variable in this study is quantitative discrete because it is the result of counting - the number of correct test answers can be counted in whole numbers. It does not fall into the category of continuous variables because it is not a measurement that can take on any value within a range, like height or weight.

The scale of measurement used to measure the dependent variable is the ratio scale. This scale is used because the number of correct answers has a true zero point (indicating that no questions were answered correctly), and the differences between the values are meaningful and comparable. For example, a score of 10 implies twice as many correct answers as a score of 5.

Answer 2

a) dependent variable = the effectiveness of study strategies based by the number of correct answers on a test (the different study strategies used)

b) discrete: finite and countable number of questions

c) ratio scale

Step-by-step explanation:

Dependent variable: The variable being tested or measured in an experiment are dependent variables. In an experiment, the researchers are measuring at how alteration in the independent variable can lead to changes in the dependent variable.

Discrete variable: In a discrete variable, variables can only take a finite number of values. It includes qualitative variables. Whereas, few quantitative variables are also present i.e performance being ranked as 1, 2, 3, and so on.

The variable consists of four levels of measurement i.e nominal, ordinal, ratio, and interval.

Ratio scale: This type of variable measurement scale is quantitative. It allows the researcher to compare the differences or intervals. It possesses a zero point of origin.