Question 1 (40 marks)

Show how statistics and data can help in our understanding of relevant issues in our daily lives by developing a research question that you would like to examine, and that could be addressed scientifically (e.g., does exercising daily help reduce depressive symptoms?). State your question and design an experiment to address your question.

Limit yourself to one independent variable with two levels/conditions and one dependent variable, and state what these variables are. Discuss how you would manipulate the independent variable, how you would measure the dependent variable, your population of interest, the number of participants you would recruit and why, the exact procedure for sampling from that population, and any other considerations you deem relevant in designing this experiment. You should also describe clearly (using examples if necessary) one potential source of confound and discuss how you would control for it in your experiment. In designing this experiment, ensure that your dependent variable has at least interval characteristics.

Identify the parametric test you will use to analyse the data from your experiment and explain why that is the appropriate parametric test.

You do not need to provide data or conduct the analyses. Your answer should be limited to 550 words.

Question 2 (60 marks)
This question contains a total of 10 parts.

Elizabeth wants to investigate whether babies prefer to look at male or female faces. She showed six 3-month-old babies (four boys and two girls) pictures of a male face and a female face simultaneously side-by-side for 10 seconds. The amount of time in seconds each baby looked at the male face and the female face respectively is presented in the table below.

Note. Both the study and the data are hypothetical. For the purposes of this exercise, we are using a small sample size. However, in the real world, a much larger sample with more observations would be recommended for reliable results.

a. Identify the predictor variable. State the number of levels/conditions and identify what the levels/conditions are. Identify the outcome variable. (4 marks)

b. Identify the scale of measurement of the predictor variable and explain why. (6 marks)

c. Identify the scale of measurement of the outcome variable and explain why. (6 marks)

d. Identify if this an experimental or observational study. Explain why in the context of this study to support your answer. (4 marks)

e. Identify if this is a between-subjects or within-subjects design. Explain why in the context of this study to support your answer. (4 marks)

f. Based on the study design, identify the most appropriate parametric statistical test to conduct. Discuss why this is the most appropriate parametric test by providing two reasons in the context of this study. (6 marks)

g. State the null hypothesis (H0) and the non-directional alternative hypothesis (H1). (4 marks)

h. Assuming all the assumptions of the statistical test you identified in (f) are met and there are no concerns about small sample size, analyse the data using jamovi. Show the jamovi spreadsheet by taking a screenshot of the spreadsheet (i.e., what you see when you click the DATA tab) and pasting it in your answer. The jamovi spreadsheet should be correctly formatted. Further, paste all the output necessary for interpretation of the results in your answer. (12 marks)

i. Interpret the results of your data analysis. Explain your answer with reference to the p value and the alpha level. Use an alpha level of .05. (4 marks)

j. Discuss and report the results in APA format. (10 marks)

Answers to Above Questions on Statistics and Data Analysis

Answer 1: Statistics plays an important role in providing us deep insight from the data that can be utilised in a meaningful way to achieve better health outcomes. The specific research question that is selected for the purpose of understanding the importance of statistics in our daily life is “does the consumption of junk food lead to obesity and adverse impact on the heart?” The independent variable in the above question is obesity and adverse heart impact whereas the dependent variable is consumption of junk food….