Study
It has been traditional for the man rather than the woman to receive the check when a couple dines out. A researcher wondered whether this would be true if the woman was clearly in charge, asking for the wine list, questioning the waiter about dishes on the menu, etc. A large random sample of restaurants was selected. One couple was used in all restaurants, but in half the man assumed the traditional in-charge role, and in the other half the woman was in charge. At each restaurant, the couple recorded whether the check was presented to the man or to the woman.

Test the research hypothesis that the check will be presented to the person showing in-charge behavior.

Analysis
The behavior that we are trying to explain is the presentation of the check. Did the wait staff give the check to the man or the woman? This would be the dependent variable in the study. The independent variable was manipulated as part of the experimental design. The independent variable was who was in charge during the dinner.

Now that we have identified the independent and dependent variables, our next step is to determine the scale of measurement.