Extraneous Variable
Extraneous variables are variables other than the independent variable that may bear any effect on the behavior of the subject being studied. This only affects the people in the experiment, not the place the experiment is taking place in. Some examples are gender, ethnicity, social class, genetics, intelligence, age.
A variable is extraneous only when it can be assumed to influence the dependent variable. It introduces noise but doesn't systematically bias the results.
Read more about Extraneous Variable: Classification, Types
Famous quotes containing the words extraneous and/or variable:
“He is not a true man of science who does not bring some sympathy to his studies, and expect to learn something by behavior as well as by application. It is childish to rest in the discovery of mere coincidences, or of partial and extraneous laws. The study of geometry is a petty and idle exercise of the mind, if it is applied to no larger system than the starry one.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Walked forth to ease my pain
Along the shore of silver streaming Thames,
Whose rutty bank, the which his river hems,
Was painted all with variable flowers,”
—Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599)