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It is thought that if tests prepare students for scenarios that may be encountered on the job,
students are more likely to view tests as being highly related to their career goals. Interested in
determining how the test taking process is related to one's successfulness in a future career, a researcher
interviewed 25 randomly selected undergraduate students. Specifically, the researcher asked about
importance of the test, importance of the information presented class, and personal interest in the area of
study. As seen in Table 1 importance of the information had the greatest variability between minimum
and maximum scores at 11 and 27 respectively with a mean of 19.8 (SD=4.3). Importance of the test had
the lowest overall minimum score at 4 with a maximum score of 18 and a mean of 13.4 (SD=3.3).
Students’ personal interest in the subject area had the least variability between minimum and maximum
Table 1
Test
13.4 3.3 4 12 14 16 18
Importance
Information
19.8 4.3 11 17 20 23 27
Importance
Personal
15.3 2.4 11 13.5 15 17.5 20
Interest
In an effort to predict importance of the test, the researcher investigated the relationships
between test importance and importance of information presented in class. Based on Figure 1, we see that
there is a positive correlation. Furthermore, Table 2 contains the Pearson correlation coefficient that was
obtained between the test importance and information importance, illustrating a statistically significant
correlation between these variables (r = .79; p<.01). This r value shows a very high, positive correlation.
As such, the researcher concluded that as importance of the information increases, so does importance of
the test. The linear regression conducted to predict the importance of the test from the importance of the
information resulted in an R2 value of .617. This indicates that 62% of the variance of test importance is
explained by the importance placed on the information presented in class. The regression equation
resulting from this analysis was ŷ = 2.92 + .53(x). As can be seen by the slope (b = .53), the importance of
the test (y) increases by 2.92 points when the importance of the information increases by .53 units.
Figure 1. Correlation scatterplot between Test Importance and Information Importance scores from all
students interviewed.
Table 2
Test Importance R2
Min
Information Q1
.79 Median
.617
Importance Q3
Max
P value .000
Continuing the investigation to predict importance of the test, the researcher also investigated the
relationships between test importance and personal interest in the area of study. Figure 2 illustrates
slight positive correlation. Looking closer at the information, Table 2 contains the Pearson correlation
coefficient that was obtained between the test importance and personal interest, indicating a statistically
low correlation between the variables (r = .03; p<.89). This r value shows a very low, positive correlation.
Theoretically, as personal interest increases, so does importance of the test. The linear regression
conducted to predict the importance of the test from personal interest resulted in an R2 value of .001.
This indicates that less than 1% of the variance of test importance is explained by the student’s personal
interest in the area of study. The regression equation resulting from this analysis was ŷ = 12.83 + .04(x).
As can be seen by the slope (b = .04), the importance of the test (y) increases by 12.83 points when the
Figure 2. Correlation scatterplot between Test Importance and Information Importance scores from all
students interviewed.
Table 2
Test Importance R2
Min
Personal Q1
.03 Median
.001
Interest Q3
Max
P value .89