Discuss the differences between the independent and dependent variables as well as categorical and continuous variables.  Give examples

Dependent variables (DV) refer to the outcome or the primary factor that is being studied or predicted in a mathematical or scientific experiment. Independent variables (IV), on the other hand, represent the causes or the factors causing variation on the dependent variable (Junior, ‘et al’, 1992). The researchers manipulate them to discover the relationship under investigation. Thus, they can let some IV remain constant to determine their influence on the DV. For example in an analysis researching on factors affecting unemployment, the factors affecting unemployment are the independent variable while unemployment is the dependent variable. The researcher can amass information about the factors to get their impacts on unemployment. Categorical variables are the elements in an experiment or research that have a finite number of categories or are categorized in distinct groups, for example, gender, hair color and mode of payment. Continuous variables, on the other hand, are the factors that an infinite number and is numeric for example date and time.