Marcus used a non-directional (two-tailed) hypothesis to investigate the relationship between weekly mindfulness practice (in hours) and subjective well-being scores.
He obtained the following data from a sample of 9 participants:
| Participant | Weekly mindfulness (hours) | Rank 1 | Well-being score (out of 20) | Rank 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1.0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| B | 2.5 | 3.5 | 9 | 3 |
| C | 2.0 | 2 | 11 | 5 |
| D | 4.0 | 6.5 | 14 | 7 |
| E | 3.0 | 5 | 10 | 4 |
| F | 2.5 | 3.5 | 8 | 2 |
| G | 5.0 | 8 | 15 | 8 |
| H | 4.0 | 6.5 | 13 | 6 |
| I | 6.0 | 9 | 18 | 9 |
Marcus calculated a Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of rs=0.72r_s = 0.72rs=0.72.
An extract from the table of critical values for Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rsr_srs) is shown below:
| NNN (Number of pairs) | p≤0.10p \le 0.10p≤0.10 (two-tailed) | p≤0.05p \le 0.05p≤0.05 (two-tailed) | p≤0.01p \le 0.01p≤0.01 (two-tailed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 0.714 | 0.786 | 0.929 |
| 8 | 0.643 | 0.738 | 0.881 |
| 9 | 0.600 | 0.700 | 0.833 |
| 10 | 0.564 | 0.648 | 0.794 |
Explain whether Marcus's data were significant at p≤0.05 p \le 0.05\,p≤0.05 and if his research hypothesis should be accepted.
638 exam-style questions on Edexcel A Level Psychology Methods. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.