Alvin

Dependent variables and independent variables refer to values that change in relationship to each other. The dependent variables are those that are observed to change in response to the independent variables. The independent variables are those that are deliberately manipulated to invoke a change in the dependent variables. In short, "if x is given, then y occurs", where x represents the independent variables and y represents the dependent variables. Depending on the context, independent variables are also known as predictor variables, regressors, controlled variables, manipulated variables, explanatory variables, exposure variables, or input variables. The dependent variable is also known as the response variable, the regressand, the measured variable, the responding variable, the explained variable, the outcome variable, the experimental variable or the output variable. Experiments In the design of experiments, independent variables are those whose values are controlled or selected by the person experimenting (experimenter) to determine its relationship to an observed phenomenon (the dependent variable). In such an experiment, an attempt is made to find evidence that the values of the independent variable determine the values of the dependent variable (that which is being measured). The independent variable can be changed as required, and its values do not represent a problem requiring explanation in an analysis, but are taken simply as given. The dependent variable on the other hand, usually cannot be directly controlled. Controlled variables are also important to identify in experiments. They are the variables that are kept constant to prevent their influence on the effect of the independent variable on the dependent. Every experiment has a controlling variable, and it is necessary to not change it, or the results of the experiment won't be valid. In summary: Independent variables answer the question "What do I change?". Dependent variables answer the question "What do I observe?". Controlled variables answer the question "What do I keep the same?". Examples If one were to measure the influence of different quantities of fertilizer on plant growth, the independent variable would be the amount of fertilizer used (the changing factor of the experiment). The dependent variables would be the growth in height and/or mass of the plant (the factors that are influenced in the experiment) and the controlled variables would be the type of plant, the type of fertilizer, the amount of sunlight the plant gets, the size of the pots, etc. (the factors that would otherwise influence the dependent variable if they were not controlled). In a study of how different doses of a drug affect the severity of symptoms, a researcher could compare the frequency and intensity of symptoms (the dependent variables) when different doses (the independent variable) are administered, and attempt to draw a conclusion. In measuring the acceleration of a vehicle, time is usually the independent variable and speed is the dependent variable. This is because when taking measurements, times are usually predetermined, and the resulting speed of the vehicle is recorded at those times. As far as the experiment is concerned, the speed is dependent on the time. Since the decision is made to measure the speed at certain times, time is the independent variable. In measuring the amount of color removed from beetroot samples at different temperatures, the dependent variable would be the amount of pigment removed, because it is depending on the temperature (which is the independent variable). In sociology, in measuring the effect of education on income or wealth, the dependent variable could be a level of income or wealth measured in monetary units (United States Dollars for example), and an independent variable could be the education level of the individual(s) who compose(s) the household (i.e. academic degrees). An intervening variable is a hypothetical internal state that is used to explain relationships between observed variables, such as independent and dependent variables, in empirical research. An intervening variable facilitates a better understanding of the relationship between the independent and dependent variables when the variables appear to not have a definite connection. They are studied by means of operational definitions and have no existence apart. For example, an independent variable in a study on latent learning in rats is the number of practice trials received. Each rat receives an increasing number of trials, as one trial is given per day. The dependent variable is the number of wrong turns (errors) the rats make on a trial. As time, and number of practice trials, increases, the number of errors decreases. Theoretically, an internal state of “learning” intervened between the independent and dependent variables. It was this state that caused the errors to decrease, not the practice trials. Other examples of intervening variables include: motivation, intelligence, intention, and expectation.

Paradigm = a mental model;a way of seeing; a filter for one’s perceptions; a frame of reference; a pattern ; a example A paradigm is a pattern, or an example. Patterns and examples have boundaries that represent something. A pattern for a dress defines what the dress will look like when it is finished. In making a dress, we lay a pattern on our chosen material and cut away all the material that is outside the pattern. When we have finished, the material is not just in the shape of a dress, it is in the shape of our chosen pattern for a dress. In giving an example of an automobile race, I may say that all the cars are lined up facing the same direction, and they travel around an oval track as fast as they can, each driver trying to remain ahead of the others. This definition gives you an example of how an automobile race, as I define it, might take place. Patterns and examples tell us what things should look like and how they should work. Remember, a paradigm is a pattern, or an example. The examples of the dress and the automobile race might give you the impression that paradigms are already established, and that we just select one that fits what we are involved in. But paradigms are self created and totally personal. What type of dress came into your mind when the example was given? Did you think of a long flowered dress taken in at the waist, or a short skirt? What kind of cars were in your automobile race? Were they 500 types, or formula ones? Do you have any idea what I was thinking when I gave the examples? Each of us has established a paradigm based on our past experience and knowledge. Although we may agree on the basic outline of a paradigm, every one of us is unique, and our individual paradigms reflect it. A paradigm is activated by attention. The moment you read the previous examples, your paradigm was activated. This happens every time you focus your attention. When you read the word "dog," your paradigm eliminates all the cats and cows in your memory and places a dog on your conscious view screen. Woops! Right then, cats and cows entered your awareness. But that was only because you read the words "cats and cows." They came within your attention. If the words hadn’t been there, your paradigm would not have allowed them into your awareness. You may get the impression that a paradigm only limits what we will accept, like when it filtered out elephants and snakes, but it does more than that. The moment you became aware of a dress pattern, your paradigm kicked in and processed all the dresses you have in your memory. The dress that appeared in on your conscious view screen was a combination of all the dresses, but it included more information than just dresses. It may have included the table you use to cut out the pattern, a sewing machine , a pin cushion, or any number of a host of memories that simply fit into the image of a dress in the making. The paradigm draws on information from our mind, gathers it together, and refines it to fit our understanding of reality. There could have been many different types of cars in your race. You have everything from Volkswagens to Limos in your memory. But your paradigm selected only those that fit your concept of an automobile race. In addition, it selected a track that you may be familiar with, a position from which to watch the race, a checkered flag, pit crews, and any information you have in your mind that relates to an automobile race. Again, your paradigm is selecting and refining information from your mind to give you the experience you hold in your attention. Paradigms live in our minds. You have just drawn on information stored in your mind, filtered and refined it through your paradigm, and responded to the examples of a dress and an automobile race -- and some dogs, cats, cows, elephants, and snakes. All this was a response of your mind, through paradigm, to the words I chose to write and the examples I decided to give. You may think that you have reached as far into your mind as you can, but you have just scratched the surface.. The mind can be looked upon as a projector with the ability to present any or all images in holographic energy, but with programs that limit and refine the information and the resulting images it presents. The programs of our mind limit our awareness of the world around us, the holographic energy of the quantum world, in order to give us the experience of our movie of reality. These programs are the paradigm through which our mind selects and refines which frames of holographic potential will appear on our view screen, the view screen of the brain, and which will not. Our mind is energy. We have, in our mind, access to all the energy of the holographic world. But we also have expectations of what our movie of reality should look like and how it should work. These expectations are the foundation of our paradigm. These expectations cause our paradigm to filter the holographic potential and refine it to meet our view of reality. Remember, our mind is energy, and all energy is holographic. When we focus our attention on a dress, an unlimited number of possibilities become available to our mind. These possibilities include not only the dresses that we have seen and experienced in our movie of reality, but every possibility for a dress that exists. Again, our mind is energy. We have, in our mind, access to the entire potential of holographic energy. Paradigms limit other possibilities. The pattern for a dress limits the final product. We will not produce a shirt by following the pattern for a dress. Our paradigm for an automobile race does not result in a boxing match. In this way, our paradigm is a filter. It filters our holographic awareness and selects what we become aware of. Our paradigm refines and shapes information in our memory, as well as the holographic potential of the quantum world, and presents it in a way that meets our expectations. It is important to remember that our paradigm is not just a filter. Our paradigm selects and refines the holographic information in our mind. It does this in response to our attention, and accomplishes it in a manner that meets our expectations. Our mind then projects the results onto our view screen of conscious awareness. This presentation of our mind becomes our reality as they are played out on the view screen of our brain.