How do you distinguish the independent and dependent variables when reading others’ research?

=) great

I see.

When reading an academic research paper, distinguishing between independent and dependent variables can be tricky. Because a dependent variable from one study can be the independent variable in another study, so it’s important to pay attention to the research design. My suggestion is to use the following list of questions to check whether it is an independent variable: 1) Is the variable manipulated, controlled, or used as a subject grouping method by the researcher?2) Does this variable come before the other variable in time? 3) Is the researcher trying to understand whether or how this variable affects another variable? In addition, you could check whether it is a dependent variable by asking: 1) Is this variable measured as an outcome of the study? 2) Is this variable dependent on another variable in the study? 3) Does this variable get measured only after other variables are altered?