# Independent and dependent variables in Repeated Measures ANOVA

I am working on a study where I have a sample of 86 students. I have tests for 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade. I think I can run a Repeated Measures ANOVA since I have observations for 4 different occasions.

However, I am unsure what my independent and dependent variables are in this set up.

• Could you tell us what your variables are? I could probably help you sort out which are independent and dependent! Jan 23, 2013 at 1:04

I guess you are having a hard time due to your data structure. Based on your description i think you have data in the "wide" format, like this:

Student-ID  5th     6th     7th     8th      Sex
1           result1 result2 result3 result4  male
2           result5 result6 ...              female


(result1, result2,... being the test scores)

Your dependent and independent variables will become clear if you restructure your data to "long" format:

Student-ID Sex    Grade TestResult
1          male   5th   result1
1          male   6th   result2
1          male   7th   result3
1          male   8th   result4
2          female 5th   result5
2          female 6th   result6
...


Now the dependent variable is the TestResults, while the independent variables (in my example) are sex and grade.

If thats not clarifying your problem, do as Kyle says.

• I think you forgot to add the Grade variable as IV Jan 23, 2013 at 8:52
• Thank you, I edited my answer. Of course grade might be an IV or a random effect, too. Think it depends on the aim of the study. Jan 23, 2013 at 9:11