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ANOVA Interpretation Exercise
[WLOs: 2, 4, 5] [CLOs: 3, 4]
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the scenario and ANOVA
results provided in an announcement by your instructor and the Analysis
of Variance (ANOVA) Download Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)and Non-
Normal Data: Is ANOVA Still a Valid Option?Links to an external
site. articles, review the required chapters of the Tanner textbook and the
Jarman e-book, and watch the One-Way ANOVA: Against All Odds - Inside
StatisticsLinks to an external site. video. In your paper, identify the
research question and the hypothesis being tested in the assigned
scenario. Consider the following questions: What are the independent and
dependent variables, sample size, treatments, etcetera? What type of
ANOVA was used in this scenario? What do the results mean in statistical
and practical terms?
In your paper,
Determine what question(s) the researchers are trying to answer
by doing this research.
Determine the hypotheses being tested. Is the alternative
hypothesis directional or nondirectional?
Identify the independent variable(s), the dependent variable, and
the specific type of ANOVA used.
Determine the sample size and the number of groups from
information given in the ANOVA table.
Discuss briefly the assumptions and limitations that apply to
ANOVA.
Interpret the ANOVA results in terms of statistical significance
and in relation to the research question.
The ANOVA Interpretation Exercise assignment
Must be two to three double-spaced pages in length (not
including title and references pages) and formatted according to
APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA StyleLinks to an
external site. resource.
Must include a separate title page with the following:
o Title of paper
o Student’s name
o University name
o Course name and number
o Instructor’s name
o Date submitted
For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA
Formatting for Microsoft WordLinks to an external site..
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Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic VoiceLinks to an
external site. resource for additional guidance.
Must use the course text and document any information used
from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing
Center’s APA: Citing Within Your PaperLinks to an external
site. guide.
Must include a separate references page that is formatted
according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See
the APA: Formatting Your References ListLinks to an external
site. resource in the Writing Center for specifications.
Carefully review the Grading RubricLinks to an external site. for the
criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
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PSY Week 4 Assignment
Student Name
Institution Affiliations
Instructor
Date
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ANOVA Interpretation
ANOVA is one of the common statistical tests that are used to conduct data analysis
on experimental designs. In the statistical concept or context, ANOVA is specifically
considered to be a group of statistical models and procedures that test treatment effects on the
main subject of focus. ANOVA models are different in terms of types. A common example,
for instance, is the one-way ANOVA, which is used to test whether there are statistically
significant differences in the means of three or more independent groups based on a single
treatment factor (Quirk & Quirk, 2012). There are others, such as two-way ANOVA, which is
among the complex ANOVA models. ANOVA models are used to compare and identify
differences existing among multiple groups. They help to avoid type I errors. They help to
identify interaction effects in complex designs. The advantages of ANOVA are that it is more
efficient and flexible to use in experiments.
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To understand more about ANOVA, we focus on case scenarios where any category
models have been used. Consider a scenario in Turner's textbook that focuses on one way:
ANOVA. The results of the experiment are as follows;
Source SS df MS F P
Between 114.311 2 57.1556 19.74 <0.0001
Within 121.6 42 2.8952
Total 235.9111 44
The scenario portrays the research question. The research question is reflected in the
research aim or objective at the beginning of the research. The main aim of the study by the
researcher was to compare the effectiveness of three techniques in memorizing information:
mnemonics, imagers, and repetition. Thus, the study had to adopt an experimental research
design. The researcher randomly assigned the participants to one of the three techniques.
Then, every participant group for every technique was provided with a document containing
information they were supposed to memorize for the given period. All participants were
tested for every group (Tanner, 2011). Hence, the study focused on whether the three methods
of improving memorization show different efficacy.
The hypothesis of the study was as follows;
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Null Hypothesis: There is a significant difference in the efficacy of memorization
techniques.
Alternative Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in the efficacy of
memorization techniques.
The alternative hypothesis is considered non-directional. According to statistical
experts, the non-directional hypothesis shows the chances of finding differences. However, it
doesn't provide a specific direction for the variations, which justifies its non-directionality.
The dependent variable for the ANOVA analysis in the study is method efficacy. The
independent variables are the three methods of memorization, which include repetition,
mnemonics and imagery (Tanner, 2011). The ANOVA model used is the one-way ANOVA. It
helped to test whether there is a difference in memorization, mnemonics, imagery and
repetition. The one-way ANOVA helps to determine whether there are significant differences
in the means or three or more independent groups.
The study's sample size is 45, determined by N-1 degrees of freedom. N-1 is 44,
which implies that 45 is the sample size. The number of groups is represented as t-1. Hence,
the total number of groups for the study was three groups categorized into the ones who
underwent repetition, imagery and mnemonics. In addition, one-way ANOVA is done by
following assumptions. Three main assumptions of one-way ANOVA were examined. They
include the responses of the normally distributed variables, which means the data followed a
normal distribution pattern. The distributions had equal variance, fulfilling the equality of
variance rule. The variables and data points proved to be independent. However, the study
also faced limitations, such as the applicability of ANOVA for skewed data with long tails.
The experiment's results may not accurately represent the population (Ross et al., 2017).
The findings proved that there is a significant difference in the effectiveness of at
least two memorization enhancement techniques, F (2,42) =19.74, p<0.0001 (Tanner, 2011).
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Hence, the model is statistically valid, so the null hypothesis will not be rejected. Further
analysis is needed to indicate the individual differences among each group by providing a
specific measure of difference. There are different multiple comparison tests, such as
conducting t-tests on every memorisation-enhancing memorisation technique, using post-hoc
tests for homogeneity of variance, or testing the differences among multiple groups of
participants.
References
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Quirk, T. J., & Quirk, T. J. (2012). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Excel 2007 for
Educational and Psychological Statistics: A Guide to Solving Practical Problems, pp.
163–179.
Ross, A., Willson, V. L., Ross, A., & Willson, V. L. (2017). One-way ANOVA. Basic and
advanced statistical tests: Writing results sections and creating tables and figures, 21–
24.
Tanner, D. (2011). Using statistics to make educational decisions. Sage Publications.
