Research situation one

A researcher wants to test a new formula for a sports drink that improves running

performance. Instead of a regular, carbohydrate-only drink, this new sports drink

contains a new carbohydrate-protein mixture. The researcher would like to know

whether this new carbohydrate-protein drink leads to a difference in performance

compared to the carbohydrate-only sports drink.

To do this, the researcher recruited 20 participants who each performed two trials in

which they had to run as far as possible in 2 hours on a treadmill. In one of the trials

they drank the carbohydrate-only drink and in the other trial they drank the

carbohydrate-protein drink. The order of the trials was counterbalanced and the

distance they ran in both trials was recorded.

The distance the participants ran in the carbohydrate-only drink trial was recorded

in the carb variable and the distance ran in the carbohydrate-protein drink trial in

the carb_protein variable. The researcher would like to determine whether there

was a difference in the distance run between the two trials, and therefore, if there is

a performance difference between the two different sports drinks. In variable terms,

the researcher wants to know if there is a mean difference between

the carb and carb_protein scores.

Suggest the statistical tests for both situations when the DV is normal and not

normal - Paired sample T test

 Research situation two

A researcher believes that individuals that are more physically active are better able

to cope with stress in the workplace. To test this theory, the researcher recruited 31

subjects and measured how many minutes of physical activity they performed per

week and their ability to cope with workplace stress. The subjects were categorized

into four groups based on the number of minutes of physical activity they performed:

namely, "sedentary", "low", "moderate" and "high" physical activity groups. These

groups (levels of physical activity) formed an independent variable called group .

The ability to cope with workplace stress was assessed as the average score of a

series of Likert items on a questionnaire, which allowed an overall "coping with

workplace stress" score to be calculated; higher scores indicating a greater ability to

cope with workplace-related stress. This dependent variable was

called coping_stress and "ability to cope with workplace-related stress" abbreviated

as "CWWS" score. The researcher would like to know if CWWS score is dependent

on physical activity level. In variable terms, is mean coping_stress score different

for different levels of group ?

Suggest the statistical tests for both situations when the DV is normal and not

normal – One Way ANOVA / Kruskal Wallis

 Research situation three

An Advertising Agency is commissioned to create a TV advert to promote a new

product. Since the product is designed for men and women, the TV advert has to
appeal to men and women equally. Before the company that commissioned the
Advertising Agency spends $250,000 across a number of TV networks, it wants to
make sure that the TV advert created by the Advertising Agency appeals equally to
men and women. More specifically, the company wants to know whether the way
that men and women engage with the TV advert is the same. To achieve this, the TV
advert is shown to 20 men and 20 women, who are then asked to fill in a
questionnaire that measures their engagement with the advertisement. The
questionnaire provides an overall engagement score.

This overall engagement score is the dependent variable, which we have

labelled engagement in SPSS Statistics. Our independent variable, which we have
labelled gender in SPSS Statistics, contains two groups: "Male" and "Female". In
variable terms, the Advertising Agency would like to know if the independent
variable, gender , has an effect on the dependent variable, engagement (or expressed
another way, if there are differences in engagement between levels of gender ). In other

words, is the mean engagement score different for males and females? Since the
Advertising Agency needs the advertisement to be similarly engaging, they hope
there is no difference!

Suggest the statistical tests for both situations when the DV is normal and not
normal – Independent Sample T test / Mann Whitney U test
 Research situation four

A researcher knows that in the general population of active individuals, males tend

to engage in competitive sports whilst females prefer non-competitive

sport/exercise. The researcher would like to investigate whether this is the case for

males and females that are currently enrolled in an Exercise Science degree course.

They asked 25 males and 25 females whether they predominately participate in

competitive sport or non-competitive sport/exercise.

Whether participants predominantly participated in competitive or non-competitive

sport was recorded in the variable, comp , whilst their gender was recorded in the

variable, gender . In variable terms, the researcher wants to know what the association

is between gender and comp .

Suggest the statistical tests for both situations when the DV is normal and not

normal - Chi Square test for association

 Research situation four

Studies show that exercising can help prevent heart disease. Within reasonable limits, the more you

exercise, the less risk you have of suffering from heart disease. One way in which exercise reduces

your risk is by reducing a fat in your blood called cholesterol. The more you exercise, the lower the

cholesterol concentration in your blood. It has been shown that the amount of time you spend

watching TV, an indicator of a sedentary lifestyle, might be a good predictor of heart disease; that is,

the more TV you watch, the greater your risk of heart disease. Therefore, a researcher decided to

determine if cholesterol concentration was related to time spent watching TV in otherwise healthy 45

to 65 year old men (a category of people that are at higher risk of heart disease). They believed that

there would be a positive relationship; that is, men who spent more time watching TV would have a

higher cholesterol concentration in their blood than those who spent less time watching TV. Daily time

spent watching TV was recorded in the variable time_tv and cholesterol concentration recorded in the

variable cholesterol. Expressed in variable terms, the researcher wants to know if there is a correlation

between time_tv and cholesterol. (note: this data is fictitious. In addition, they did not decide to predict

the direction of the relationship in the statistical analysis.)

Pearson Correlation