जब कोई शोधकर्ता पूर्वानुमान के अनुसार परिणाम प्राप्त करता है, समान एवं सुसंगत परिणामों को एकत्र करता है और एक सिद्धांत का निर्माण करता है, तो इस प्रक्रिया को क्या कहा जाता है?

Given below are two statements: Statement I: An operational definition translates a vague construct into measurable and observable terms for the purpose of a specific research study. Statement II: A moderator variable is a type of extraneous variable that the researcher fails to control, thereby providing an alternative explanation for the results. In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below:

The variable manipulated by the experimenter in an experiment is called the ________ variable.