noun · academic
confounder
UK/kənˈfaʊndə(r)/US/kənˈfaʊndər/con·FOUND·er
a variable that distorts or masks the true relationship between the studied factors
Examples
“Age was a confounder in the study, because older participants were less active and had more health problems.”
“The team adjusted for major confounders like smoking and socioeconomic status.”
“Failing to account for a confounder can make a harmless exposure look dangerous.”
Band 8 sentence
“We included smoking and income as confounders in the model to ensure the observed association was not spurious.”
Collocations
- adjust for confounders
- control confounders
- residual confounding
Word family
Common mistakes
This variable confuses the result.→This variable confounds the result.
We controlled the confusing factors.→We controlled the confounders.
Say it for a higher band
5confusing factor→6confusion→7+confounder
Synonyms
lurking variable
Easily confused
confuse
“Don't confuse correlation with causation.”
Related words
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In Science & Research
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