What is the controlled variable in a research interview?

I'm writing a research essay about a study that was done to assess the impact of television on body image in teen-aged Fijian girls





I was just wondering, what would the controlled variable be in this situation? The amount of television viewing is not controlled by the researcher, and the interviews are semi-structured.





Thank you for any and all help!What is the controlled variable in a research interview?
I think it depends on what kind of study you're doing. Is it experimental or descriptive? An experimental study includes a controlled and experimental variable, whereas a descriptive study involves just describing the results of your research. I think your research would be a descriptive one; you'd just have to describe the kinds of shows/programs the respondents viewed, the respondents' characteristics, then summarize the outcomes of their interviews, and relate that to the impact of television. Since you're just looking at the general impact of television on the respondents' body image, you don't need to specify any variables. You just have to describe your findings.





You could make it an experimental study though, by making two groups; the control group(the group that watches a lot of television) and the experimental group(the one that doesn't watch much), and compare the body images of the respondents from both groups. In that case, you need to control the amount of television viewing; like make sure there really is a significant difference between the two groups in regard as to how much TV is being viewed.