Question

4. Indicate which variable is the independent and dependent for each pair. If either could be the independent, answer “reciprocal.” If the two variables do not seem related, answer “unrelated.”

a) Property inspections completed, number of inspectors

b) Property tax rate, property value

c) Consumption of ice cream in a month, average daily temperature in a month

d) Satisfaction with local services, voting in a local election

e) Work commute time, time of day

f) Merit pay, work productivity

g) Flu cases per capita, average age of population

h) Road miles constructed, number of commuters

i) Husband’s income, wife’s income

j) Visitors to a state park, visitors to a nearby national park

k) Season of the year, number of animals dropped at a shelter

l) Drop-out rate from high school, teenage pregnancy rate

m) Donations to a local ballet, Sales tax rate

Answer 1

Solution:

a) Property inspections completed seems to be dependent variable and number of inspectors seems to be independent variable. Because, it may be that time to complete property inspection depends on number of inspectors who are inspecting the property.

b) Property tax rate seems to be dependent variable and property value seems to be independent variable. Because property tax rate are calculated using the property value.

c)  Consumption of ice cream in a month seems to be dependent variable and average daily temperature in a month seems to be independent variable. Because usually it is found that consumption of ice cream is greater when temperature is high. It means that ice cream consumption in a month depends on temperature in that month.

d) In my opinion these two variables can be seen in two ways.

First approach: Suppose people are satisfied with the local services then they will vote for the same candidate who is already in local governance. And if people are not satisfied with the local services then they will vote for any other candidate who is not in local governance. It means that voting in election (in the sense that people choose which candidate) is dependent variable and satisfaction with local governance is independent variable.

Second approach: If people are satisfied with local services then they would go for voting and vote for the same candidate who is already in local governance. And if people are not satisfied with the local services then also they would go for voting and vote for the other candidate in order to change their representative in local governance. It means that whether people are satisfied with local services or not they will go for voting in local elections. Therefore, satisfaction with local services and voting in the local elections ( in the sense whether people or voting in local elections or not) seems to be unrelated.