Dr. Gore believes that people who live in regions that have been impacted by multiple, severe storms or related natural disasters like flooding are more likely to report that climate change is serious concern to them than are people who live in regions that have not been impacted. Using National Weather Service data on storm severity, she categorizes people as living in regions impacted by at least one such storm in the five years or no such storms and then looks at the percentage of people who rate climate change as a serious concern based on where they live. In this example, what is the independent variable?

A) The number of storms
B) Whether people see climate change as a serious concern
C) Whether people live in a region impacted by one or more severe storms
D) The total number of people surveyed

Question

Kaitlin Cowell · Accepted Answer

Final Answer : C, Explanation :  The independent variable is the factor that is being manipulated or categorized in order to observe the effects on the dependent variable. In this example, the independent variable is whether people live in a region impacted by one or more severe storms. The dependent variable is the percentage of people who rate climate change as a serious concern. The number of storms is not being manipulated or categorized, it is simply being used to determine which individuals fall into the impacted region category. Whether people see climate change as a serious concern is the dependent variable being measured, not the independent variable. The total number of people surveyed is not the independent variable as it is not being manipulated or categorized.

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