Question

Operational Definitions, IVs, DVs, & Hypotheses

Directions:  Identify the independent variable (IV) and the dependent variable (DV) for each of the research scenarios and given the operational definitions for each.  Additionally, provide a hypothesis for each research scenario.

1. A nurse researcher is interested in how the activity level of four year olds is affected by viewing a 30 minute video of Spongebob Squarepants or a 30 minute video of Sid the Science Kid.

IV: ________________________________________________________________________________

Operational definition of IV: ___________________________________________________________

DV: _______________________________________________________________________________

Operational definition of DV: ___________________________________________________________

Hypothesis: _________________________________________________________________________

2. A nurse researcher wants to test the impact of a new drug designed to increase the ability of teenagers with ADHD to take accurate notes in class.

IV: ________________________________________________________________________________

Operational definition of IV: ___________________________________________________________

DV: _______________________________________________________________________________

Operational definition of DV: ___________________________________________________________

Hypothesis: _________________________________________________________________________

3. A nurse researcher believes that cooling the temperature of a patient’s room may have an impact on recovery time.

IV: ________________________________________________________________________________

Operational definition of IV: ___________________________________________________________

DV: _______________________________________________________________________________

Operational definition of DV: ___________________________________________________________

Hypothesis: _________________________________________________________________________

Answer 1

A nurse researcher is interested in how the activity level of four-year-olds is affected by viewing a 30-minute video of Spongebob Squarepants or a 30-minute video of Sid the Science Kid.

Independent Variable: The 30-minute video of SpongeBob square pants or a 30-minute video of sid the science kid.

Operational Definition of IV: Independent variable is the one which is constant and controls the dependent variable. The video remains constant for the groups. The video will be watched for the time period of 30 minutes and the extraneous variables were observed.

Dependent Variable: The activity level of four-year-old.

Operational Definition of DV: Dependent variable is the one which is observed or measured. Here the activity level of a four-year-old child after watching the video is measured. Usually, the researcher uses a specific scale to measure the variations.

Hypothesis: The hypothesis is that a four-year child who watches a 30-minute video of SpongeBob Squarepants will vary with the activity level of a child who watches the video of sid the science kid.