Suppose a researcher is interested in evaluating how pet ownership and social activity affect loneliness.

a. Identify the independent variables and the dependent variable.

b. Imagine that pet ownership is assessed as either owning no pets or owning at least one pet, and that social activity is assessed as went out with friends or family either not at all or at least once over the past week. How many levels do the independent variables have?

c. How might you operationalize the dependent variable that you identified in part (a)?