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.
Independent Variable: An independent variable is the variable you have control over, what you can choose and manipulate. It is usually what you think will affect the dependent variable. In some cases, you may not be able to manipulate the independent variable. It may be something that is already there and is fixed, something you would like to evaluate with respect to how it affects something else, the dependent variable like color, kind, time.