Got a great question today: What is the difference between a confounding variable and extraneous variable? All confounding variables are extraneous variables that have the added quality of affecting a study. An extraneous variable may not necessarily impact the study. For example, I compared two hospital programs. One program had a much longer length of stay (LOS) than the other. LOS was a confounding variable. In this study, I did not compare differences between gender or ethnicity, but there was no evidence to suggest that those variables would impact the study. Hence, gender and ethnicity are extraneous variables. LOS is an extraneous variable that cold impact the findings; hence it is a confounding variable.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 01:56:07 +0000
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