A value assumed by a dependent variable depends upon some value of the independent variable as mentioned by David Eugene Booth .

A dependent variable may depend upon a single independent variable or upon many (two or more) independent variables.

If a dependent variable depends upon many independent variables then any value assumed by the dependent variable depends upon some tuple of values of the independent variables.

In the instant problem, it is understood that failure depends upon

lack of motivation,

anxiety,

inappropriate study methods,

teachers etc.

Thus, the variables lack of motivation, anxiety, inappropriate study methods, teachers etc. are independent variables and failure is the dependent variable in this problem.

A DV's value depends on the values of the IV s. Best, D Booth

A value assumed by a dependent variable depends upon some value of the independent variable as mentioned by David Eugene Booth .

A dependent variable may depend upon a single independent variable or upon many (two or more) independent variables.

If a dependent variable depends upon many independent variables then any value assumed by the dependent variable depends upon some tuple of values of the independent variables.

In the instant problem, it is understood that failure depends upon

lack of motivation,

anxiety,

inappropriate study methods,

teachers etc.

Thus, the variables lack of motivation, anxiety, inappropriate study methods, teachers etc. are independent variables and failure is the dependent variable in this problem.

The result of student's failure (dependent variable) depend on other variables (independent variables) which you are mentioned: lack of motivation, anxiety, inappropriate study methods, teachers etc.

Best

.

terminology is somewhat broken here

.

in your case, following a long tradition, "students' failure in English classroom" would be the "dependent variable" and all the others would be dubbed "independent variables"

.

i'd prefer to use "target variable" for "students' failure in English classroom" and "(potentially) explanatory variables" for all the others but tradition has it differently !

(and of course, some will (rightly) object that "explanatory variables" carries some unnecessary "causal" flavour ...)

.

finally and more importantly, note that dubbing "explanatory variables" as "independent variables" does not mean that these variables are statistically (mutually) independent !

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If you think of a regression equation, the variable on the left hand side of the equation is the dependent variable (DV) and the variables on the right hand side are called independent variables (IVs). In the case of a designed experiment, the independent variables are the design variables (you are able to select values of the IVs for the purpose of the experiment) and the dependent variable is the result obtained at the end of the experiment. In general, the IVs are easy to observe and the DV is more difficult to observe, hence the purpose of the regression equation is to enable you to estimate the DV if you can observe the IVs.

The dependent variable value change as a response to change in the independent variable, for example when you increase the quantity of fertilizer to the soil (independent variable) there is a response in the corn production (dependent variable).

In research, the ‘independent variable’ is the perceived cause or treatment, whereas the ‘dependent variable’ or outcome variable is measured for reaction due to the independent variable. Please note that an independent variable would be the apparent cause and the dependent variable the supposed effect. In a study, there can be more than one cause and more than one outcome. In the present case, the presumed causes are lack of motivation, anxiety, inappropriate study methods, teachers. These variables are independent variables and ‘failure’ is the dependent variable.

My view is same with Safaa Kadhem that in this problem/situation student's failure is the dependent variable and lack of motivation, anxiety, inappropriate study methods, teachers etc. are independent variable. I have already explained it in my earlier answer.

The flowery description given by C George Thomas on dependent variable and independent variable is, as I understand, can be treated as based on equivalently antecedent-consequence concept. Thus a dependent variable can be interpreted as antecedent variable (or cause variable of treatment variable or input variable) while independent variable can be interpreted as consequent variable (or result variable or outcome variable or output variable).

In the present case, lack of motivation, anxiety, inappropriate study methods, teachers etc. are antecedents (or causes or treatments or inputs) while student's failure is consequence (or result or outcome or output).

Are these variables dependent or independent? At first, a correlation analysis would be helpful. Please take a look at the link below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_and_dependence

I agree with Fabrice Clerot answer!

@ Aristidis Matsoukis ,

Correlation analysis can not provide grantee that two variables are independent.

If two variables are independent then the correlation between them is 0 (zero). But, if the correlation between two variables is 0 (zero) then the two variables may not be independent.

Correlation analysis can provide the degree of both way relationship (correlation) between two variables.

Linear correlation analysis can provide the degree of linear both way relationship (linear correlation) between two variables while non-linear correlation analysis can provide the degree of non-linear correlation between them.

@Dhritikesh Chakrabarty,

Of course correlation analysis can not provide guarantee that two variables are really independent. As you can see in my response above, I wrote ''At first, a correlation analysis would be helpful. Please take a look at the link below. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_and_dependence'' and nothing else. To proceed a bit further, one can visit https://www.stat.cmu.edu/~cshalizi/uADA/13/reminders/uncorrelated-vs-independent.pdf.

It depends upon your hypothesis. A dependent variable in certain hypothesis may be taken as independent variable in different hypotheses. Even in multivariate analysis, there are nothing considered as dependent or independent variables. Everything is regarded as causal variables.

There are two sets of notions of dependence and independence: mathematical and probabalistic. In the mathematical sense, if you write Distance=Speed x Time, then Distance is the dependent variable and Speed and Time are the independent variables in the sense that for any choice of Speed and Time you may calculate Distance. If you write the same relationship in the form Speed = Distance/Time then in this form of the relationship, Speed is the dependent variable and Distance and Time are the independent variables. If you want to model the time taken by an athlete to run the 100 metres, you may postulate that the time will depend on the athlete's age, height, fitness and testosterone levels and any other factors you can think of and can measure (e.g. type of surface of the track, ambient temperature etc.) Now suppose you want to estimate a model of the form Time=f(age, height, fitness, testosterone) + error, where the error term takes care of unmeasured factors such as genetics, motivation, nutritional status etc. You obtain data by measuring all the variables for a sample of athletes (dependent variable as well as independent variables), and then you can try to estimate the function f. In this equation Time will be the dependent variable and age, height, fitness and testosterone will be the independent variables. This has absolutely nothing to do with correlation or lack of correlation between age, height, fitness and testosterone.

In probability theory, two random variables are independent if P(X=x;Y=y)=P(X=x).P(Y=y) for all values x and y of the random variables X and Y. If X and Y are independent then they will be uncorrelated (but being uncorrelated does not necessarily mean that they are independent). This type of dependence or independence of random variables is not what is meant by the dependent variable and the independent variables in a regression equation. In fact, some or all of the independent variables can in some applications not be random variables at all, they may assume pre-selected values, and then dependence or independence in the probability sense among the independent variables is not even relevant.

@ Aristidis Matsoukis ,

I am also of the same view that correlation analysis can be helpful.

Thus there is agreement between your view and my view on this point.

I have just explained the fact that correlation analysis can not provide grantee that two variables are independent.

I think, the misunderstanding, if any, is clear now.

@ Biswajit Lahiri ,

My view is that the two terms dependence & independence are relative. It is situation-dependent.

An independent variable in one situation may be a dependent variable in another situation.

Similarly, a dependent variable in one situation may be an independent variable in another situation.

Accordingly, independent variable and dependent variable are situation-dependent and consequently become hypothesis-dependent in a study.

However, it is not always true that in multivariate analysis, there are nothing considered as dependent or independent variables.

Dependent variables result can get with other values ( remote sensing observations need to check with field observations)

Independent variables gives direct value ( field measurements are direct measures)

It depends on your research question when i see the list provided anxiety, lack of motivation can be outcome variables teaching method and teachers would be the independent variables.

Independence and dependence are relative concepts.Accordingly, independent variable and dependent variable are also relative concepts.

In reality or in true sense, independence and dependence are situation dependent.

An independent variable in one situation may be dependent in another situation.

For example, let us consider a situation where the two variables namely velocity and acceleration of a moving body is considered. In this situation, velocity depends upon acceleration and accordingly, velocity here is the dependent variable and acceleration is the independent variable.

On the other hand, if we consider a situation where he two variables namely force and acceleration of a moving body is taken in to account then acceleration depends upon force and accordingly, acceleration here is the dependent variable and force is the independent variable.

In the instant problem, it is understood that failure depends upon lack of motivation, anxiety, inappropriate study methods, teachers etc. Thus, the variables lack of motivation, anxiety, inappropriate study methods, teachers etc. are independent variables and failure is the dependent variable in this problem.