In a study of racism, Nail, Harton, and Decker (2003) had participants read a scenario in which a police officer assaulted a motorist. Half the participants read about a black officer who assaulted a white motorist, and half read about a white officer who assaulted a black motorist. Participants were categorized based on political orientation: liberal, moderate, or conservative. Participants were told that the officer was acquitted of assault charges in state court but was found guilty of violating the motorist's rights in federal court. Double jeopardy occurs when an individual is tried twice for the same crime. Participants were asked to rate, on a scale of 1-7, the degree to which the officer had been placed in double jeopardy by the second trial.

The researchers reported the interaction as F(2, 58) = 10.93, p < 0.0001. The means for the liberal participants were 3.18 for those who read about the black officer and 1.91 for those who read about the white officer. The means for the moderate participants were 3.50 for those who read about the black officer and 3.33 for those who read about the white officer. The means for the conservative participants were 1.25 for those who read about the black officer and 4.62 for those who read about the white officer.

What is the dependent variable?