A cognitive psychologist conducted a study to investigate if listening to classical music while reading increases comprehension performance compared to reading in silence. An independent measures design was used, testing a small sample of 12 participants. Half of the participants listened to classical music through headphones while reading a short story, whereas the other half read the story in silence. All participants then completed a comprehension test (scored out of 20). The data obtained from the study are presented in the table below.
| Score on reading comprehension test (max 20) under different noise conditions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Classical Music Condition | Silence Condition | ||
| Participant | Score | Participant | Score |
| 1 | 16 | 1 | 11 |
| 2 | 19 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 15 | 3 | 19 |
| 4 | 12 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | 16 | 5 | 12 |
| 6 | 18 | 6 | 10 |
Outline how the data in this study would be ranked before using the inferential statistical test.
513 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Data recording, analysis and presentation. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.