Scientific Questionnaire
By: Shruthi Gopinath and Ann Kovoor
question
Hypothesis
This is a comparative investigation.
Parts of Investigation
- Dependent Variable - The dependent variable is the number of hours of television watched by each subject.
- Independent Variable - The independent variable is the gender of the subjects.
- Control Group - None
- Experimental Groups - The experimental groups are the male and female high school students involved in rigorous high school activity,
- Two Factors Held Constant - Each subject took the same questionnaire and each subject was a sophomore in high school.
The Average Number of Television Hours Watched By Male and Female Students Involved in Rigorous Extracirricular Activity
Bar Graphs
Analysis
In a survey where 13 sophomore boys and 13 sophomore girls (all involved in some type of rigorous extracurricular activity) were questioned about the amount of hours of television they watched in a week, there was a significant difference that was found.
The mean for the number of hours watched by the males is 2.31 hours while the mean for the number of hours watched by the females is 5.54 hours. The standard error of the mean (SEM) for the males is 0.51 while for the females it is .73. It is preferred to multiply the SEM by two to ensure 95% certainty in the range of results. The multiplied SEM by 2 for both is 1.02 and 1.46 for the males and females respectively. The SEMx2 is added and subtracted to the mean of the male and female data individually. By doing this, a range of accurate data is displayed, in this case a range of how many hours of television watched by males and females is shown. So when the mean of the male data is subtracted by 1.02 and added by 1.02, the result is a range of 1.29 hours to 3.33 hours (2.31 – 1.02 = 1.29, 2.31 + 1.02 = 3.33). The same concept is applied to the female data except the subtraction and addition is by a factor of 1.46, the result is a range of 5.54 hours to 7 hours (5.54 – 1.56 = 5.54 + 1.56 = 7). These ranges are used to represent the error bars shown in the graphs above. It is clearly seen that the error bars do not over lap meaning that the independent variable does have an affect on the data. In the result of the T-test taken with the data, a p-value of 0.000677553 is obtained. The value is less than 0.05. This reinforces that there is a statistical significance between male and female habits of watching television.
Television strongly affects today’s society, especially the minds of the youth whose brains are easily susceptible to the behaviors and actions on television (Susan D. Witt, Ph.D. 13). In younger ages, males and females show an equal interest in the programs of television (Susan D. Witt, Ph.D. 22). Nearing the teenage years, a difference starts to show when males show a decline in interest of watching television while the females stay at a relatively same level as they did as kids (Susan D. Witt, Ph.D. 27). Studies show that females tend to watch more hours of television solely because the shows that appeal to females, are much longer than that of an average show (Susan D. Witt, Ph.D. 31). Males in their teenage years start opting for videogames and laptop activities rather than watch television shows (Susan D. Witt, Ph.D. 36). It is also clear that when involved in rigorous activity, teens don’t have much time to watch television and as the years go by the hours spent in front of the television go down (Smith, Granados 23). Yet when involved in rigorous activity, females tend to find more time to enjoy watching their shows and soap operas more than males do (Beasly 34).
Conclusion
Sources of Inaccuracies/Errors
Bibliography
"Arttv." Arttv. GoZips, 4 Nov. 2012. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.
"Children, Television and Gender Roles." Children, Television and Gender Roles. N.p., 5 Aug. 2012. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.
"Designing a Scientific Questionnaire 2015". Martin, Jennifer
"Gender and the Media." - For Members. PTO, 20 May 2010. Web. 06 Sept. 2015.