Question

Explain what is meant by confounding. What is a lurking​ variable? What is a confounding​ variable?

Answer 1

Confounding occurs when the experimental controls do not allow the experimenter to reasonably eliminate plausible alternative explanations for an observed relationship between independent and dependent variables.

A lurking variable is a variable that is not included as an explanatory or response variable in the analysis but can affect the interpretation of the relationship between variables.

Example: Number of fire fighters at a scene versus damage done by the fire. Here the lurking variable is the intensity of th fire.

A Confounding Variable is an outside influence that changes the effect of a dependent and independent variable.

Suppose we are researching whether lack of exercise leads to weight gain:

Independent Variable: Lack of exercise

Dependent Variable: Weight gain

Confounding variable: Age, that has an effect on the dependent variable.

The difference between confounding variable and lurking variable is as follows:

A confounding variable is one whose effects on the response variable cannot be distinguished from one or more of the explanatory variables in the study.

A lurking variable is one whose effects on the response variable cannot be distinguished from one or more of the explanatory variables in the study.and is not incorporated into the design of the study.

The difference between confounding variable and lurking variable lies in their inclusion in the study.