At the beginning of a football game, a coin is flipped to decide which of the two teams will have possession of the ball first. A coach believes that winning the coin flip increases the likelihood of winning the game. In this situation, the independent variable is ______; the dependent variable is ______.
A) outcome of coin flip; outcome of game
B) winning the game; winning the coin flip
C) outcome of game; outcome of coin flip
D) team; outcome of game

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The independent variable is the coin flip outcome, as it is being manipulated by chance. The dependent variable is the outcome of the game, as it is affected by the independent variable of winning the coin flip. Therefore, A is the best choice. B, C, and D are incorrect as they either switch the independent and dependent variable or introduce irrelevant variables.

At the Beginning of a Football Game, a Coin Is