Questions and Answers of Discovering Statistics

A ‘display rule’ refers to displaying an appropriate emotion in a situation. For example, if you receive a present that you don’t like, you should smile politely and say ‘Thank you, Auntie
Are there any influential cases or outliers in the model for Task 1?Task 1A ‘display rule’ refers to displaying an appropriate emotion in a situation. For example, if you receive a present that
The behaviour of drivers has been used to claim that people of a higher social class are more unpleasant (Piff et al., 2012). Piff and colleagues classified social class by the type of car (vehicle)
In a second study, Piff et al. (2012) observed the behaviour of drivers and classified social class by the type of car (vehicle), but the outcome was whether the drivers cut off a pedestrian at a
Four hundred and sixty-seven lecturers completed questionnaire measures of burnout (burnt out or not), perceived control (high score = low perceived control), coping ability (high score = high
An HIV researcher explored the factors that influenced condom use with a new partner (relationship less than 1 month old). The outcome measure was whether a condom was used (use: condom used = 1, not
How reliable is the model in Task 6?Task 6An HIV researcher explored the factors that influenced condom use with a new partner (relationship less than 1 month old). The outcome measure was whether
Using the final model from Task 6, what are the probabilities that participants 12, 53 and 75 will use a condom?Task 6An HIV researcher explored the factors that influenced condom use with a new
A female who used a condom in her previous encounter scores 2 on all variables except perceived risk (for which she scores 6). Use the model in Task 6 to estimate the probability that she will use a
At the start of the chapter we looked at whether the type of instrument a person plays is connected to their personality. A musicologist measured extroversion and agreeableness in 200 singers and
Which problem associated with logistic regression might we have in the analysis in Task 10?Task 10At the start of the chapter we looked at whether the type of instrument a person plays is connected
In a new study, the musicologist in Task 10 extended her previous one by collecting data from 430 musicians who played their voice (singers), guitar, bass or drums (instrument). She measured the same
Using the cosmetic surgery example, run the analysis described in Section 21.5 but also including BDI as a fixed effect predictor. What differences does including this predictor make?
Miller et al. (2007) tested the ‘hidden-estrus’ theory, which suggests that unlike other female mammals, humans do not experience an ‘estrus’ phase during which they are more sexually
Hill et al. (2007) examined whether providing children with a leaflet based on the ‘theory of planned behaviour’ increased their exercise. There were four different interventions (intervention):
Repeat the analysis in Task 3 but include the pre-intervention exercise scores (pre_exercise) as a covariate. What difference does this make to the results?Task 3Hill et al. (2007) examined whether
Research suggests that people who can switch off from work (detachment) during off-hours are more satisfied with life and have fewer symptoms of psychological strain (Sonnentag, 2012). Factors at
Labcoat Leni’s Real Research 19.1 describes a study (Daniels, 2012) that looked at the impact of sexualized images of athletes compared to performance pictures on women’s perceptions of the
Using the data in Task 2, see whether the type of picture viewed was associated with indicating admiration or jealousy for the athlete.Data From Task 2Labcoat Leni’s Real Research 19.1 describes a
Using the data in Task 2, see whether the type of picture viewed was associated with indicating that the athlete was a role model or motivating.Data From Task 2Labcoat Leni’s Real Research 19.1
Task 5. Using the data in Task 2, see whether the type of picture viewed was associated with the participant commenting on their own physical activity.Data From Task 2Labcoat Leni’s Real Research
I wrote much of the third edition of this book in the Netherlands (I have a soft spot for it). The Dutch travel by bike much more than the English. I noticed that many more Dutch people cycle while
Compute and interpret the odds ratio for Task 6Task 6I wrote much of the third edition of this book in the Netherlands (I have a soft spot for it). The Dutch travel by bike much more than the
Certain editors at Sage like to think they’re great at football (soccer). To see whether they are better than Sussex lecturers and postgraduates we invited employees of Sage to join in our football
Compute and interpret the odds ratio for Task 8.Data From Task 8Certain editors at Sage like to think they’re great at football (soccer). To see whether they are better than Sussex lecturers and
I was interested in whether horoscopes are tosh. I recruited 2201 people, made a note of their star sign (this variable, obviously, has 12 categories: Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus,
On my statistics module students have weekly practical statistics classes in a computer laboratory. I’ve noticed that many students are studying social media more than the very interesting
To test how different teaching methods affected students’ knowledge I took three statistics modules (group) where I taught the same material. For one module I wandered around with a large cane and
Fit a robust model for Task 1Task 1To test how different teaching methods affected students’ knowledge I took three statistics modules (group) where I taught the same material. For one module I
Children wearing superhero costumes are more likely to injure themselves because of the unrealistic impression of invincibility that these costumes could create. For example, children have reported
Mobile phones emit microwaves, and so holding one next to your brain for large parts of the day is a bit like sticking your brain in a microwave oven and pushing the ‘cook until well done’
Using the data in glastonbury.sav, fit a model to see if the change in hygiene (change) is significant across people with different musical tastes (music). Use a simple contrast to compare each group
A sociologist wanted to compare murder rates (murder) recorded in each month in a year at three high-profile locations in London (street): Ruskin Avenue, Acacia Avenue and Rue Morgue. Fit a robust
A few years back I was stalked. You’d think they could have found someone a bit more interesting to stalk, but apparently times were hard. It wasn’t particularly pleasant, but could have been a
Fit a robust model for Task 1.Task 1A few years back I was stalked. You’d think they could have found someone a bit more interesting to stalk, but apparently times were hard. It wasn’t
A marketing manager tested the benefit of soft drinks for curing hangovers. He took 15 people and got them drunk. The next morning as they awoke, dehydrated and feeling as though they’d licked a
Compute effect sizes for Task 3 and report the results.Task 3A marketing manager tested the benefit of soft drinks for curing hangovers. He took 15 people and got them drunk. The next morning as they
The highlight of the elephant calendar is the annual elephant soccer event in Nepal (google it). A heated argument burns between the African and Asian elephants. In 2010, the president of the Asian
In Chapter 4 (Task 6) we looked at data from people who had fish or cats as pets and measured their life satisfaction and, also, how much they like animals (pets.sav). Fit a model predicting life
Compare your results from Task 6 to those for the corresponding task in Chapter 11. What differences do you notice and why? Task 6In Chapter 4 (Task 6) we looked at data from people who had fish or
People have claimed that listening to heavy metal, because of its aggressive sonic palette and often violent or emotionally negative lyrics, leads to angry and aggressive behaviour (Selfhout et al.,
Compute omega squared for the effects in Task 1 and report the results of the analysis.Task 1People have claimed that listening to heavy metal, because of its aggressive sonic palette and often
Compute omega squared for the effects in Task 3 and report the results of the analysis.Task 3In Chapter 5 we used some data that related to male and female arousal levels when watching The Notebook
At the start of this chapter I described a way of empirically researching whether I wrote better songs than my old bandmate Malcolm, and whether this depended on the type of song (a symphony or song
Compute omega squared for the effects in Task 6 and report the results of the analysis.Task 6At the start of this chapter I described a way of empirically researching whether I wrote better songs
There are reports of increases in injuries related to playing games consoles. These injuries were attributed mainly to muscle and tendon strains. A researcher hypothesized that a stretching warm-up
A researcher was interested in what factors contributed to injuries resulting from game console use. She tested 40 participants who were randomly assigned to either an active or static game played on
It is common that lecturers obtain reputations for being ‘hard’ or ‘light’ markers, but there is often little to substantiate these reputations. A group of students investigated the
Repeat the analysis for Task 1 using SPSS and interpret the results.Task 1It is common that lecturers obtain reputations for being ‘hard’ or ‘light’ markers, but there is often little to
Calculate the effect sizes for the analysis in Task 1.Task 1It is common that lecturers obtain reputations for being ‘hard’ or ‘light’ markers, but there is often little to substantiate these
Interpret the simple effect of effect of alcohol at different levels of lighting.
Early in my career I looked at the effect of giving children information about entities. In one study (Field, 2006), I used three novel entities (the quoll, quokka and cuscus) and children were told
Analyse the data in Task 7 with a robust model. Do children take longer to put their hands in a box that they believe contains an entity about which they have been told nasty things?Task
A marketing researcher was interested in the effects of types of imagery (positive, negative or neutral) on perceptions of different types of drink (beer, wine, water). Participants viewed videos of
Text messaging and Twitter encourage communication using abbreviated forms of words (if u no wat I mean). A researcher wanted to see the effect this had on children’s understanding of grammar. One
A researcher hypothesized that reality TV show contestants start off with personality disorders that are exacerbated by being forced to spend time with people as attention-seeking as them (see
Angry Birds is a video game in which you fire birds at pigs. A (fabricated) study was set up in which people played Angry Birds and a control game (Tetris) over a 2-year period (1 year per game).
A different study was conducted with the same design as in Task 4. The only difference was that the participant’s violent acts in real life were monitored before the study, and after 1 month, 6
My wife believes that she has received fewer friend requests from random men on Facebook since she changed her profile picture to a photo of us both. Imagine we took 40 women who had profiles on a
Labcoat Leni’s Real Research 5.2 described a study in which researchers reasoned that if red was a proxy signal to indicate sexual proceptivity then men should find red female genitalia more
A farmyard psychologist decided to compare whether his chickens acted more like chickens than university lecturers did. He recorded 10 of his chickens as they went through a normal day, and did the
A news story claimed that children who lie would become successful citizens. I was intrigued because although the article cited a lot of well-conducted work by Dr. Khang Lee that shows that children
I was interested in whether students’ knowledge of different aspects of psychology improved throughout their degree (psychology.sav). I took a sample of firstyears, second-years and third-years and
The University of Sussex constantly seeks to employ the best people possible as lecturers. They wanted to revise the ‘Teaching of Statistics for Scientific Experiments’ (TOSSE) questionnaire,
Dr Sian Williams (University of Brighton) devised a questionnaire to measure organizational ability. She predicted five factors to do with organizational ability:(1) Preference for organization; (2)
Zibarras et al. (2008) looked at the relationship between personality and creativity. They used the Hogan Development Survey (HDS), which measures 11 dysfunctional dispositions of employed adults:
A psychologist was interested in the cross-species differences between men and dogs. She observed a group of dogs and a group of men in a naturalistic setting (20 of each). She classified several
Both Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest have been accused of putting backward masked messages on their albums that subliminally influence poor unsuspecting teenagers into doing things like blowing their
A media researcher was interested in the effect of television programmes on domestic life. She hypothesized that through ‘learning by watching’, certain programmes encourage people to behave like
A researcher was interested in preventing coulrophobia (fear of clowns) in children. She did an experiment in which different groups of children (15 in each) were exposed to positive information
Thinking back to Labcoat Leni’s Real Research 4.1, test whether the number of offers was significantly different in people listening to Bon Scott compared to those listening to Brian Johnson
Repeat the analysis above, but using the minimum acceptable offer – see Chapter 4, Task 3.Chapter 4 Task 3The data below show the score (out of 20) for 20 different students, some of whom are male
Using the data in shopping.sav (Chapter 4, Task 4), test whether men and women spent significantly different amounts of time shopping? Chapter 4 Task 4Thinking back to Labcoat Leni’s Real Research
Using the same data, test whether men and women walked significantly different distances while shopping.
Using the data in pets.sav (Chapter 4, Task 5), test whether people with fish or cats as pets differed significantly in their life satisfaction. Chapter 4 Task 5According to some highly
Use the spss_exam.sav (Chapter 6, Task 2) data to test whether students at the Universities of Sussex and Duncetown differed significantly in their SPSS exam scores, their numeracy, their computer
Use the download.sav data from Chapter 6 to test whether hygiene levels- changed significantly over the three days of the festival.
A student was interested in whether there was a positive relationship between the time spent doing an essay and the mark received. He got 45 of his friends and timed how long they spent writing an
Using the notebook.sav data from Chapter 3, quantify the relationship between the participant’s gender and arousal.
Using the notebook data again, quantify the relationship between the film watched and arousal.
As a statistics lecturer I am interested in the factors that determine whether a student will do well on a statistics course. Imagine I took 25 students and looked at their grades for my statistics
In Figure 2.3 we saw some data relating to people’s ratings of dishonest acts and the likeableness of the perpetrator (for a full description see Jane Superbrain Box 2.1). Compute the Spearman
In Chapter 4 (Task 6) we looked at data from people who had fish or cats as pets and measured their life satisfaction and, also, how much they like animals (pets. sav). Is there a significant
In Chapter 4 (Task 7) we looked at data based on findings that the number of cups of tea drunk was related to cognitive functioning (Feng et al., 2010). The data are in the file tea_15.sav. What is
The research in the previous task was replicated but in a larger sample (N = 716), which is the same as the sample size in Feng et al.’s research (tea_716.sav). Conduct a correlation between tea
Using the data in shopping.sav (Chapter 4, Task 5), find out if there is a significant relationship between the time spent shopping and the distance covered.Chapter 4 Task 5According to some highly
What effect does accounting for the participant’s sex have on the relationship between the time spent shopping and the distance covered?
In Chapter 8 (Task 9) we looked at data based on findings that the number of cups of tea drunk was related to cognitive functioning (Feng et al., 2010). Using a linear model that predicts cognitive
Estimate a linear model for the pubs.sav data in Jane Superbrain Box 9.1 predicting mortality from the number of pubs. Try repeating the analysis but bootstrapping the confidence intervals.
In Jane Superbrain Box 2.1 we encountered data (honesty_lab.sav) relating to people’s ratings of dishonest acts and the likeableness of the perpetrator. Run a linear model with bootstrapping to
A fashion student was interested in factors that predicted the salaries of catwalk models. She collected data from 231 models (supermodel.sav). For each model she asked them their salary per day
A study was carried out to explore the relationship between aggression and several potential predicting factors in 666 children who had an older sibling. Variables measured were parenting_style (high
Repeat the analysis in Labcoat Leni’s Real Research 9.1 using bootstrapping for the confidence intervals. What are the confidence intervals for the regression parameters?
Coldwell et al. (2006) investigated whether household chaos predicted children’s problem behaviour over and above parenting. From 118 families they recorded the age and gender of the youngest child
Is arachnophobia (fear of spiders) specific to real spiders or will pictures of spiders evoke similar levels of anxiety? Twelve arachnophobes were asked to play with a big hairy tarantula with big
Plot an error bar graph of the data in Task 1 (remember to adjust for the fact that the data are from a repeated measures design.)Task 1Is arachnophobia (fear of spiders) specific to real spiders or
Pop psychology’ books sometimes spout nonsense that is unsubstantiated by science. As part of my plan to rid the world of pop psychology I took 20 people in relationships and randomly assigned them
Twaddle and Sons, the publishers of Women are from Bras and Men are from Penis, were upset about my claims that their book was as useful as a paper umbrella. They ran their own experiment (N = 500)
In Chapter 4 (Task 6) we looked at data from people who had fish or cats as pets and measured their life satisfaction as well as how much they like animals (pets.sav). Conduct a t-test to see whether
Fit a linear model to the data in Task 5 to see whether life satisfaction is significantly predicted from the type of animal. What do you notice about the t-value and significance in this model

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