Practical Investigation Flashcards
What is the aim?
To investigate whether there is a negative correlation between average hours of sleep over 3 days, and aggression score using the Busy Perry aggression questionnaire.
What is the alternative hypothesis for this investigation?
There will be a negative correlation between the mean numbers of hours of sleep and aggression score on the questionnaire
What is the null hypothesis for this investigation?
There will be no correlation between the mean number of hours of sleep and aggression score on a questionnaire. Any correlation is due to chance.
Give a piece of research which supports the alternative hypothesis for this practical investigation.
Bauducco et al:
- tested the correlation between sleep deficit in adolescents and emotional and behavioural issues
- sample was 2,767 aged between 12 and 16, 52% were male
- they found that students who reported less then the recommended total hours of sleep, experienced ‘norm-breaking behaviour’ as well as emotional changes including anger, depression and anxiety
What sampling method was used?
Opportunity sampling- where we collected data from the students who were in class at the time
Who did the sample consist off?
- 8 males
- 8 females
- all aged between 16-18
- All students studying psychology from King Ed’s college Stourbridge
Operationalise both co variables used in the study.
- Hours of sleep: use mean number of hours slept over 3 consecutive nights
- Aggression scale: aggression score using the Bussy-Perry aggression scale (1992)
Identify 3 extraneous variables and explain how and why they were controlled for.
1) Mean 3 consecutive nights sleep= creates an average, so controle for any anomalies or distractions which may affect night sleep
2) All ppts were off a similar age (16-18)= would all experience similar sleep patterns
3) All did same Bussy-Perry aggression questionnaire= standardised, making study reliable and results comparable
Why was a spearman Rho stat test used for this investigation?
- ppts have 2 sets of data
- is ordinal data (ranked)
- tests for a relationship
What was the observed value calculated from the stat test?
0.263
What was the critical value of this study?
0.338
What was the significance level used?
0.05
What is the conclusion of this study?
As the calculated value of 0.263 is less then the critical value of 0.338 (for a one tailed test, when n=16, and significance is 0.05). Therefore we have to accept our null hypothesis and reject the alternate hypothesis, so there is no relationship between sleep and aggression.
