C2 Personal Investigation 1: Pet Ownership

Question 1

State the variables you are assessing

Answer 1

IV- Whether the participants have owened a pet for more than three months or have not owned a pet for more than three months
DV- Stress levels measured using the Cohen Perceived Stress scale from 0-4

Question 2

State an operationalised alternative hypothesis

Answer 2

There will be significantly lower stress scores using Cohen’s perceived stress scale from the participants who have owned a pet for more than three months compared to individuals that have not owned a pet for more than three months.

Question 3

Identify if your alternative hypothesis is directional or non-directional

Answer 3

Directional

Question 4

Justify/Explain why you chose to use a directional or non-directional hypothesis, linking to your variables.

Answer 4

I chose to use a directional hypothesis as I had researched supporting evidence that pet ownership reduces stress levels from an article called ‘The physiological benefits if dog ownership’ by John Hopkins Medicine. This found that 84% of PTSD patients paired with a service dog reported a significant reduction in symptoms and 40% could decrease their medications.

Question 5

State an appropriate null hypothesis

Answer 5

There will be no significant difference between the stress scores using Cohen’s perceived stress scale in participants who have owned a pet for more than three months compared to participants who haven’t owned a pet for more than three months. Any difference is due to chance factors.

Question 6

Identify the type of methodology chosen for this research

Answer 6

Questionnaire

Question 7

State why you have chosen this methodology and link to your variables:

Answer 7

Questionnaires have a self-report method, therefore it allows for the collection of anonymous data in a time-efficient method and included pre-determined answers, therefore, I will be able to collect stress scores via the use of Cohen’s Perceived stress scale.

Question 8

Explain at least two advantages of your chosen methodology and link them to your variables

Answer 8

• One advantage of using the questionnaire is that it produced quantitative data, therefore it was easy to analyse and find patterns between the stress scores and pet ownership.
• Another advantage is that it produces anonymous data, therefore I was able to increase the validity of the stress scores due to participants being more likely, to be honest and not change their answers to appear socially desirable.

Question 9

Explain at least two limitations of your chosen methodology and link to your variables

Answer 9

• One limitation of questionnaires is that they lack insight into the impact of pet ownership on stress scores, this is because the questions have pre-determined answers as I have used Cohen’s perceived stress scale to measure stress levels.
• Another limitation is that the questions on pet ownership and the stress scores may be interpreted differently by different participants, therefore this would affect the internal reliability of the research

Question 10

Identify the main characteristics of your sample group

Answer 10

Number of participants: 20
Other significant features: majority students (17-18), some adults aged 30+

Question 11

Identify the sampling method you employed to select your sample:

Answer 11

Opportunity Sampling

Question 12

Explain at least two advantages of your choice of sampling technique and link to your research

Answer 12

• One advantage of opportunity sampling is that it is not very time-consuming to collect a sampling frame as I did not need to highlight characteristics in a sampling frame for example, in stratified sampling instead the questionnaire allowed for the participants to easily be gathered to research pet ownership on stress scores.
• Another advantage of opportunity sampling is that it is convenient for the participants for example the questionnaire on pet ownership on stress scores was sent out online via a Microsoft Online Form, which they would fill out In their own time

Question 13

Explain at least two limitations of your choice of sampling technique and link to your research

Answer 13

• One limitation of opportunity sampling is that it could not produce a representative sample, for example, the questionnaire on pet ownership and stress was sent out to mostly students, therefore more data would need to be collected to ensure that it is generalisable to wider society.
• Another limitation of opportunity sampling is that there could have been researcher bias, for example, some of the participants in which I gathered from the sample I had already known personally, therefore there is the possibility that I would have known whether they owned a pet for more than three months already or did not and this could have influenced the stress scores in which they had given.

Question 14

Identify an appropriate descriptive statistic that could be used to describe the data collected

Answer 14

Mean
Range
Standard Deviation

Question 15

Explain why this choice of descriptive statistics is appropriate for your research

Answer 15

• The mean is an appropriate measure as it uses all of the stress scores so uses all of the values
• The standard deviation helps to see how spread out the stress scores are from the average
• Range is used to see the difference between the highest stress score vs the lowest stress scores in each category eg ‘owns a pet’ and ‘doesn’t own a pet’

Question 16

Identify an appropriate graphical representation that could be used to describe the data collected

Answer 16

Bar Chart

Question 17

Explain why your choice of graphical representation is appropriate for your research

Answer 17

The data is discreet so a bar chart is appropriate to show the difference in the mean stress scores

Question 18

Identify an appropriate inferential statistic that you used to display the data collected

Answer 18

Mann Whitney Test

Question 19

Explain why your choice of inferential statistic is appropriate for your research

Answer 19

I chose to use this test as the research is a test of difference for example I have investigated the difference between stress scores in participants who own a pet in comparison to those who do not own a pet. In addition, I used independent measures since all the participants took part in one condition in completing the questionnaire on pet ownership. Also, the data produced was at least ordinal as there is possibly a 0 for stress scores.

Question 20

Briefly summarise your findings

Answer 20

1. The bar chart showed the difference in mean stress scores for the participants who owned a pet for more than three months in comparison to those who did not own a pet for more than three months. This is appropriate as the data produced is discreet.
2. I worked out the standard deviations for the participants who have owned a pet for more than three months (2.9) and for the participants who did not own a pet for more than three months (2.4).
3. I used the Mann-Whitney Test and found
   The observed was 58.5 and Critical Value was 27
   Therefore, reject the directional hypothesis (alternative) and accept the null as the data was not significant.
4. Mean:
   Own a pet: 21.2 / Doesn’t own a pet 20.0
   Range:
   Own a pet: 9 / Doesn’t own a pet: 8

Question 21

State what conclusion you can draw from the findings of your research linked to your variables

Answer 21

As the calculated value is 58.5 which is greater than the critical value of 27, this means the findings arent significant at p=0.05, therefore, the null hypothesis can be accepted and the alternative rejected. This means that there is no significant difference between the participant’s stress scores whether they have owned a pet for more than three months or have not owned a pet for more than three months.

Question 22

Identify at least two issues of reliability you faced in your research, linked to your variables.

Answer 22

• One issue I faced was whether I was consistent in my own behaviours, for example, using the same type of questions in the questionnaire on pet ownership and stress scores.
• Another issue was whether I measured pet ownership and stress scores in a consistent way.

Question 23

Explain how you established your research was reliable, linked to your variables

Answer 23

• I have managed to stay consistent in my own behaviour by using the same type of question each time for example using only closed questions.
• In addition, each participant received the same questionnaire on pet ownership and received the same debriefing statement of ‘The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between pets and stress’
• Also I measured stress in a consistent way by using Cohen’s perceived stress scale to make stress measurable in the same way.

Question 24

Identify at least two issues of validity you faced in your research, linked to your variables

Answer 24

• One issue of validity was that the sample was not representative, for example, the sample of participants collected from the questionnaire on pet ownership and stress, mainly consisted of students aged 17-18 and adults aged 30+, which is not representative of all wider society
• Another issue is that there may have been other factors that could have affected the participants’ answers on the questionnaire about pet ownership and stress such as their mental state whilst completing the questionnaire.m
• Also another issue is whether pet ownership was operationalised

Question 25

Explain how you established your research was valid, linked to your variables

Answer 25

• I managed to operationalise pet ownership by saying that ‘Do you own a pet for more than three months, and other researchers all agreed on the same definition.
• I managed to measure stress scores accurately by using an established scale, Cohen perceived stress scale from 0-4 causing it to be accurate.
• In addition, I used filler questions eg ‘How many people live in your house?’ to distract away from the true aims as well as putting the stress questions first.
• I avoided social desirability bias by ensuring that the ps are anonymous as otherwise stress is a sensitive subject it prevents ps from changing their stress scores to look in a different light

Question 26

Identify at least two ethical issues that concerned you before the research

Answer 26

• informed valid consent
• privacy
• protection from harm

Question 27

Explain what you did to deal with these ethical issues, linked to your research

Answer 27

• Informed valid consent: at the beginning of the research we had a question saying ‘Do you consent to this research?’ At the end of the research, I again asked for consent afterwards telling them the true aims that we were investigating pet ownership on stress scores.
• Privacy: All the participants remained anonymous, in addition, I used a Likert scale which is not as intrusive as it uses closed questions for stress scores.
• Protection from harm: The Ps at the end of the questionnaire have a debrief, this allowed for the ps who could have been affected by questions on stress scores/ pet ownership could contact me via email in case of needing support.