Psychology Research Paper
happykate624
researchpp.pptxResearch Question:
Does employment status have a negative impact on the life satisfaction of college students?
Introduction:
“Increased work hours tended to negatively affect sleep and increase feelings of being overwhelmed (Autry, Day, Lederer, & Oswalt, 2015).”
Hypotheses
Hypothesis #1
Students who work are less satisfied with their lives than students who don’t work.
Hypothesis #2
Students who are planning to pursue a higher education are less satisfied with their lives than students who are not.
Variables:
Independent Variables:
Employment status
Educational goals
Gender
Dependent Variable:
Life satisfaction
Our method:
Convenience sampling.
Online and paper surveys.
102 participants. (Females:63, Males: 39)
36 Likert Scale items, 5 demographic items, and 6 open-ended items (47 in total).
One-way and two-way anova.
Results:
Hypothesis 1 : Students who work are less satisfied with their lives than students who don’t work.
One-Way Anova
p = .43
Mean = 2.47
| Mean | N | |
| Employed | 2.50 | 78 |
| Unemployed | 2.37 | 24 |
Results:
Hypothesis 1 cont.:
Two-way Anova
Gender: p = .004
Employment status: p = .76
Interaction: p = .02
| Female | Male | |
| Employed | M = 2.45 (N = 46) | M = 2.11 (N = 17) |
| Unemployed | M = 2.56 (N = 32) | M = 3.00 (N = 7) |
Results:
Hypothesis 2: Students who are planning to pursue a higher education are less satisfied with their lives than students who are not.
One-Way Anova
p = .49
Mean = .37
| Mean | N | |
| Associate's Degree | 2.42 | 19 |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 2.38 | 44 |
| Master’s Degree | 2.62 | 32 |
| Doctorate’s Degree | 2.42 | 7 |
Results:
Hypothesis 2 cont.:
Two-way Anova
Gender: p = .045
Educational goal: p = .042
Interaction: p = .022
| Female | Male | |
| Associate's Degree | M = 2.33 (N = 12) | M = 2.57 (N = 7) |
| Bachelor’s Degree | M = 2.40 (N = 25) | M = 2.36 (N = 19) |
| Master’s Degree | M = 2.34 (N =23) | M = 3.33 (N = 9) |
| Doctorate’s Degree | M = 2.33 (N = 3) | M = 2.50 (N = 4) |
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Strengths:
We gained stats on the lives of employed/unemployed college students.
We obtained skills on analyzing and inputting data.
Weaknesses:
We had some missing data on a few of our paper surveys, causing slight issues.
There are some questions that could have been phrased differently for clarification.
Reference:
Lederer, A. M., Autry, D. M., Day, C. R. T., & Oswalt, S. B. (2015). The Impact of
Work and Volunteer Hours on the Health of Undergraduate Students. Journal of
American College Health, 63(6), 403-408. Doi: 10.1080/07448481.2015.1015028
Conclusion:
The results did not support either of our hypotheses.
Gender turned out to be a significant main effect when added to our tests.
Men who are unemployed have higher life satisfaction.
