claim to respect and praise; excellence; worth. 2. something that deserves or justifies a reward or commendation; a commendable quality, act, etc.: The book's only merit is its sincerity. 3. merits, the inherent rights and wrongs of a matter, as a lawsuit, unobscured by procedural details, technicalities, personal feelings, etc.:
A dependent variable? Yes, there can be more than one dependent variable. In our example, for instance, the growth rate of the plants might be one dependent variable and the overall height of the plants might be another dependent variable. Both of these variables depend upon the independent variable.
Answer: Just like an independent variable, a dependent variable is exactly what it sounds like. It is something that depends on other factors. For example, a test score could be a dependent variable because it could change depending on several factors such as how much you studied, how much sleep you got the night before you took the test, or even how hungry you were when you took it.