LESSON 2.8
Implied Variables
As the previous lesson showed, sentences often contain implied questions.
Other sentences contain implied words. For example, in Christa had a higher free-throw percentage than Babs there is an implied word: Christa had a higher free-throw percentage than Babs did.
Baseline Variables
Variables often act similarly. For example, the What Statement African elephants respond to changes in seasonal rainfall does not mean seasonal rainfall everywhere. Obviously, it means seasonal rainfall in that area.
In other places, an entire variable is implied. For instance, pretend you wrote this variable: The Siberian tiger population is slowly increasing.
What are the variables?
Old: Siberian tigers
New: Siberian tigers’ slowly increasing population.
However, Siberian tigers is not a good variable to discuss, even for an Old variable. It’s too general except for, say, a paper created by an elementary student.
So: One variable is the Siberian tiger’s slowly increasing population. What is the other one?
Baseline
A baseline is a number when something was first measured. It often is an implied variable. You use the starting point to measure increases or decreases since then.
To figure out what a baseline is, first identify the variable’s implied questions:
What is the Siberian tigers’ population?
Who says so?
How was that researched?
When was that researched?
Where was that researched?
How slowly is it increasing?
To determine the percentage of population growth per year, you have to know when the population began being researched. You might end up with implied questions like this?
What was the Siberian tigers’ population when they began being counted?
Who says so?
How was that researched?
When was that researched?
Where was that researched?
What was the Siberian tigers’ population at its lowest point?
Who says so?
How was that researched?
When was that researched?
Where was that researched?
Once you determine what the Siberian tiger’s population was at its lowest point, then you can figure out the percentage of increase.
You now have these possible variables:
Siberian tigers’ population at first count
Siberian tigers’ population at lowest point
Siberian tigers’ population at latest count
You can use either the first count or the lowest point as your baseline. It is usually best to use the lowest point. There is no Old variable, because a typical, educated reader is not likely to know much about the information and is likely to be interested in it. So you have two variables:
New1: Baseline
New2: Latest count
Using the Baseline
You can include considerable information in the baseline variable:
Information about the subject (Siberian tigers, in this case)
What the population was at first count
When the count was made
Why the count was made
Who made the count
How the count was made
What the population was at the lowest count
When the count was made
Why the count was made
Who made the count
How the count was made
For the second variable, you could research:
What the population was at the lowest count
When the count was made
Why the count was made
Who made the count
How the count was made
You now should have sufficient data to write both the New1 and the New2 variables. Again, there is no Old variable in this situation.
Small-Group or Class Activity
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Individual or Small-Group Activity
Complete the activity: Puerto Rico