Donald Burrill's response that "lurking" and "confounding" variables are separate led me to poke around.
A search of 23 Economics journals in JSTOR for "lurking" and "variable" (near 10 words) gives 3 hits of which only one uses lurking (just barely) in our sense:
"... a failure to reject does not dispel the thought that there might be a relevant variable, untested, lurking around the corner."
Macroeconomic Forecasting: A Survey
Kenneth F. Wallis
The Economic Journal, Vol. 99, No. 394. (Mar., 1989), pp. 28-61.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-0133%28198903%2999%3A394%3C28%3AMFAS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D
I find it interesting that economists simply do not use the term lurking variable.
But check out these hits from a Google search of "lurking variable" and "confounding variable":
Explain how an experiment is better than an observational study for showing causality. Be able to define and give examples of a lurking variable, a confounding variable, blind experiment, double-blind experiment, and blocking.
http://arnoldkling.com/stats/APsumm.html
In part (b), students confused the idea of a confounding variable with any variable that might have an effect on the response variable. They often did not recognize that a confounding variable had to be something that was related to group membership. Students also confused confounding variables and lurking variables
http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:Db_YnV3tIxwC:www.woodward.edu/faculty/us/math/apstat/fr99comments.pdf+%22confounding+variable%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
If confounding variable [sic] are not recognized, they are called lurking variables.
http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:9nfrXh9A0wkC:www.apl.jhu.edu/Classes/Notes/Telford/Viewgraphs/Class2.pdf+%22confounding+variable%22+%22lurking+variable%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Thus, there's no doubt, as many of you well know, but as I have just learned, that there are many users of the term lurking variable in the statistical and mathematical community.
If you like etymology like I do and you know something about how words travel, in general, or the history of lurking and confounding, in particular, please tell the story. I wonder why lurking never made it to the shores of the Econ?
Finally, I guess the really best answer for Mr. Voltollini's translation question is that it depends on his audience . . .
Humberto Barreto
x6315
