Janny

Hey guys, I am a new grad student and today i went to talk to my adviser and i was crashed hard by what he said. We will talking about possible topics of my interest and he ask me questions like what is your independent and dependent variables, types of research. I couldnt answer because i have not touch any of those courses yet. So he was surprise that i have no background. Am i the only on thinking i was this bad ? or was he just pushing me hard ? Also is there anyone that can help me with my purpose statement ? i have ideas but it just dont look right when i put them together . ( and figuring what is DV and IV) Really appreciate it