Assignment formatting guidelines:
· Your report should contain the following sections numbered and titled as shown below. Do NOT submit your assignment in essay format, type your answers directly into the sections below.
· In addition to the points below, you will be graded on the quality of writing, which includes use of proper grammar, spelling, and clarity of thought in writing.
· Reports must be typed using Times New Roman 12 point font or 11 point Arial, Calibri, or Cambria with 1” margins.
· Reports must be uploaded to moodle by the due date as a Word document (.doc, .docx) or as a rich text file (.rtf). Any other formats will not be graded and late penalties will apply.
· APA format must be used for all in-text citations and for the formatting of the references section.
Learning Objectives
In completing this assignment students will demonstrate that they can:
1. Create a testable hypothesis and interpret statistical data to identify hypothesis support.
2. Explain and critique study design and variable measurement.
3. Describe sample characteristics and identify similarities with and differences between the sample and the study population.
4. Apply recommendations to the interpretation of sample characteristics.
5. Interpret p-values and r-values to explain statistical relationships between variables.
6. Develop conclusions about a research study grounded in the data collected and analyzed.
7. Identify health risks and health benefits of sleep behaviors and caffeine consumption and draw conclusions for recommendations.
TOPIC OF RESEARCH REPORT #1
This Research Report will examine the relationship between sleep characteristics and caffeine intake in HS2000 students. Data collected from a survey of HS2000 students, was analyzed and the results posted on moodle for you to analyze in exploring this concept.
Winter 2018
1
STEP 1: HYPOTHESIS FORMATION (6 points total)
A hypothesis is a statement that predicts a relationship between variables. It is specific and testable. A hypothesis is written in one sentence and includes both independent and dependent variables. In this report, you will write a hypothesis that predicts how caffeine intake affects sleep (or, how sleep affects caffeine intake).
In one sentence, write your hypothesis about the relationship between sleep behaviors and caffeine consumption. Be specific about what variables your hypothesis includes and how you expect the independent variable to influence/change the dependent variable. At the end of the assignment, you will assess whether or not your hypothesis was supported by the data, so please make sure your hypothesis fits with the content of this assignment and the variables that were measured.
1. Write your hypothesis. (4 points)
2. What is the independent variable? (1 point)
3. What is the dependent variable? (1 point)
STEP 2: METHODS (20 points total)
The methods of a research study are how data are measured/collected. In our class survey study, data was collected from students taking HS2000 in the Winter of 2018. In this section you will describe and explain how the data were collected and identify strengths and weaknesses of the methods.
4. Is this class survey study cross-sectional, longitudinal (prospective), or experimental? Describe the strengths and weaknesses of this type of study? (6 points)
5. The class survey included two questionnaires: The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire1 and Dr. Lynch’s Caffeine Consumption survey, which was made up by a Health Sciences professor for this survey. For each survey, describe the survey, WHAT variables were measured, and HOW they were measured. Do not repeat the questions and answer choices, give an overall description of the surveys. (6 points)
5.a. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire
5.b. Caffeine Consumption Survey
6. What is one strength and one weakness of the survey methods used to explore the relationship between sleep and caffeine? (4 points)
7. Identify one way that our study could be made stronger. Consider either better measurements for the variables or a different study type. Explain why this is stronger. (4 points)
STEP3: RESULTS (44 points total)
The results section is where researchers describe their sample, their findings, and explain statistical relationships. In this section you will also evaluate generalizability of the findings, compare reported student behaviors with recommendations, and identify health risks or benefits of the behaviors.
8. Compare and contrast the study sample (HS2000 class) characteristics (Found in Table 1 & 2) to the OU student population characteristics (found in the supplemental document on Moodle) on the following variables. Be specific in your answers (use numbers or percent in your comparisons of both groups) and describe how the groups are similar or different. (6 points, 2 points each)
a. Age
b. Male/female ratio
c. Residence
9. Do you think the findings of this survey are generalizable to the OU student population as a whole? Why or why not? Consider both the sample characteristics examined in Question 8 and other factors that impact generalizability. (3 points)
The following questions ask you to examine data presented in Table 3.
10. a. Compared to recommendations for hours of sleep, how are HS2000 students doing on sleep? (2 points)
10.b. Based on this assessment and existing research, what are some long-term OR short-term health risks (or benefits) that the average HS2000 student might experience? You must use and cite at least 1 credible source. You MAY NOT use or cite your textbook. Be sure to add your source to the references in Question 17. (4 points)
11. a. Although average caffeine consumption could not be calculated, you can see ranges in students’ consumption of caffeine. Summarize the caffeine consumption habits and sources of caffeine consumption of students in HS2000 (2 points)
11.b. Based on existing research, identify ONE health benefit and ONE health risk of caffeine consumption. You must use and cite at least 1 credible source. You MAY NOT use or cite your textbook. Be sure to add your source to the references in Question 17. (4 points)
Now that you have described the study sample characteristics, you will examine the relationships between caffeine intake and sleep. These analyses can be found in Table 4 and in the Figures.
12. Identify and interpret the statistical relationship between the following sleep variables and caffeine consumption. Include the statistics (p-values and r-values), an interpretation of the r-value, and a statement about significance.
a. Hours of sleep and caffeine consumption (3.5 points)
a.1. r-value:
a.2. p-value:
a.3. Is this statistically significant?
a.4. What is your interpretation of the relationship between these variables based on these statistics?
b. Sleep quality index score and caffeine consumption (3.5 points)
a.1. r-value:
a.2. p-value:
a.3. Is this statistically significant?
a.4. What is your interpretation of the relationship between these variables based on these statistics?
13. Based on these results, what do you conclude is the relationship between caffeine intake and sleep? (2 points)
14. Was your hypothesis supported? Explain WHY you think it was/was not supported. That is, thinking critically, why do you think this result occurred? If your hypothesis was supported, what is the link between variables. If it was not, what are some alternative explanations? You are graded on your assessment of support and for your explanations, NOT that your hypothesis was correct. (4 points)
Different groups of students may have different sleep habits or caffeine use. Our statistical analysis also examines differences in sleep quality and caffeine use between men and women and students’ living situations. Look at Table 5 and 6, which shows the group means along with a p-value for group differences.
15. Identify which variables are significantly different between men and women and explain the differences (e.g. if there is a significant difference in caffeine use, explain whether men or women are higher and by how much). (2 points)
16. Identify which variables are significantly different between students who live on-campus and those who live off-campus. Again explain the differences. (2 points)
17. References (6 points) Using APA formatting, include full reference information for sources cited in questions 10 and 11. You will be scored based on the quality of your references (peer-reviewed, credible sources), as well as utilizing correct APA formatting.
References used in these instructions
1. Buysse,D.J., Rynolds, C.F., Monk, T.H., Berman, S.R., Kupfer, D.J. (1989). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index: A new instruction for psychiatric practice and research. Psychiatry Res, 28(2), 193- 213.