Taustatekijän

Taustatekijään is the illative singular form of taustatekijä, a Finnish noun meaning “background factor” or “underlying factor.” In Finnish research and academic writing, taustatekijä refers to a variable that describes the context or conditions that may influence an outcome but is not the primary explanatory variable. The illative form taustatekijään is used when the sentence requires a verb or construction that governs the illative case, for example to indicate reference to, movement toward, or inclusion of that factor in the discussion or analysis.

In practice, taustatekijät or taustatekijä are used to discuss factors such as age, gender, education, socioeconomic status, health status, or environmental conditions that provide context for a study’s findings. Researchers distinguish between main variables of interest and taustatekijät that may confound, modify, or mediate associations. In statistical analyses, taustatekijät are commonly controlled for, stratified, or matched to assess whether observed associations persist after accounting for background factors. The term appears across disciplines, including epidemiology, psychology, sociology, and education.

Linguistic note: taustatekijään is an illative case form derived from taustatekijä. The form is encountered in sentences where the illative complements a verb or expression that requires direction toward or inclusion of the background factor. The base form taustatekijä combines tausta “background” and tekijä “factor” or “actor.”

Related terms include taustatekijä (background factor) and taustatekijät (background factors).