High-Stakes Assessment: Evaluating Research Hypotheses

For this assignment, you will be putting your knowledge of both basic and advanced statistical analyses to the test. You will be given a series of research hypotheses and will be asked to evaluate each hypothesis.

Research Situation 1

Researchers were interested in examining whether yoga was more effective in reducing stress compared to a heavy cardio workout (i.e., running) and a light cardio workout (i.e., walking). To test this possibility, researchers randomly assigned participants to experience either yoga, running, or walking workouts. They then measured stress using a 10-item perceived stress measure with scores ranging from 1 (low stress) to 6 (high stress) and taking participant blood pressure. Both measures were measured one week after participation in one of the three workout conditions.

Hypothesis: The researchers hypothesized that those participating in yoga would be associated with significantly lower perceived stress and blood pressure compared to those who experienced the walking workout but not compared to those who experienced the running workout.

Research Situation 2

Researchers were interested in examining whether political ideology was associated with stronger religious beliefs. They measured political ideology using a single item on a scale of 1 (liberal) to 6 (conservative) and religious beliefs using a single item also on a scale of 1 (not religious) to 6 (very religious).

Hypothesis: The researchers hypothesized that more conservative beliefs would be associated with stronger religious beliefs.

Research Situation 3

Researchers were interested in examining how different types of social support impact the stress response to stressful situations. Current research in the field also suggested that females respond differently to stress compared to males. Thus, researchers were interested in examining whether men and women differ in their responses to different forms of social support when experiencing stressful situations. Other research in the field also suggested that physical stress responses to stressful situations were affected by preexisting general health. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two social support conditions—emotional and instrumental. Stress was measured by examining perceived stress using a single item on a scale of 1 (not at all stressed) to 6 (very stressed) and heart rate in average beats per minute.

Hypothesis 1: The researchers hypothesized that females would display a different perceived stress response to emotional support compared to males and females who received instrumental support.

Hypothesis 2: The researchers also hypothesized that females would display a different average heart rate in response to emotional support compared to all other conditions but only when controlling for general health.

For each hypothesis provided, you will:

• Provide the null hypothesis.
• Identify the appropriate analysis to test the research.
• Explain why the test chosen is better than other forms of analysis.
• Discuss one variable that could be added to change the type of analysis that would be conducted. You will describe which type of analysis would be most appropriate with the addition.
• Interpret what a significant result would mean, making sure you clarify that some tests may have more than one significance test associated with them (e.g., factorial ANOVA and main effects versus interactions).

 Cite any sources in APA format, and attach a Turnitin.com Report.