Amount of Sleep in a Week

vs. Stats Grade

By:
Trulee Stainbrook
Jerica Fischer
Joelle Tabacsko
 Stainbrook, Fischer, Tabacsko 1

Introduction:

We are surveying a group of twenty-five students from Dubois Area

High School who took statistics II, and asking for the number of hours of

sleep they get on average during a seven day week. Then we are asking for

their statistics grade from quarter one as a response. We hypothesized that if

the amount of sleep a student gets a week increases, then the stats grade they

receive will increase with a strong positive correlation of .702. We used a

sample survey to collect our data. A sample survey is when you survey a

group of individuals by studying only some of its members. In this case, we

took a sample of DAHS students, that are taking statistics II and recorded

how sleep affects their grade.

Data Set:

A population is the entire group of individuals being studied in an

experiment. In our project our population was students at DuBois Area High

School taking Statistics II. A sample is the part of the population from which

we actually collected the data from. Our sample was twenty five students that

have taken statistics II, in the DuBois Area High School. A variable is any

characteristic of an individual. Our project’s explanatory variable was the

amount of sleep a student got in a week, our response variable is the statistic

grade that student got in quarter one of their statistics class. We chose the

explanatory and response variables based off of the theory that the amount of

sleep causes the result of your stats grade. The stats grade the student has is

the response of the amount of sleep one intakes. We didn’t choose it the other

way around because we thought the amount of sleep will affect your stats

grade more than the theory that your stats grade affects your amount of sleep.
 Stainbrook, Fischer, Tabacsko 3

Analyze data using Microsoft Excel:

*The amount of sleep in a week is measured in hours*

Graph data using Excel:

There was one significant outlier. The student was considered an outlier

because they received 65 hours of sleep and had an 89 in stats class. With that

amount of sleep they should have received a higher grade.

Interpret r & r2:

Correlation describes the direction and strength of a straight line

relationship. Our correlation value is r=.045. Meaning that if r=.045, the

correlation is positive meaning as the amount of sleep in a week increases, the

quarter 1 statistics grade increases. The correlation of .045 means that the

correlation is weak meaning the correlation is invalid. Since r=.045, then r2= .002

meaning any prediction has a .2% variation.

The coefficient of determination is the variation of y that is explained by the

least squares regression line of y on x. Our coefficient of determination is r 2=.002.

If r= + or - .045, the correlation is unknown meaning as amount of sleep in a week

increases, the quarter 1 statistics grade is unknown. The correlation of + or - .045

means the correlation is weak meaning the correlation is invalid. Since r= + or -

.045 , then r2=.002 meaning any prediction has a .2% variation.

Prediction:

The least squares regression line is a line that makes the sum of the squares

of the vertical distance as small as possible. Our equation of our regression line is

y=0.035x + 91.604. If we predict the amount of sleep in a week equals 50 hours,

then I predict the quarter one stats grade will be a 93.354% with a .2% variation.

With a .2% variation our data is concluded to be not valid.

y=0.035x + 91.604

y=0.035(50) + 91.604

y=1.75 + 91.604

y=93.354
 Stainbrook, Fischer, Tabacsko 6

Lurking Variables:

A lurking variable is a variable that has an important effect on the

relationship among variables, but is not one of the explanatory variables. In our

sample survey some possible lurking variables were the amount of time spent

studying, extracurricular activities, and having a job. There is a confounding

causation between the lurking variables and one’s stats grade. A confounding

causation is when x and z cause y, or x causes y or z, or z causes y to change. We

don’t know which variable had an effect on our results, but each variable could

have affected one another.

Conclusion:

In conclusion of our work, in the beginning of our experiment we

hypothesized that if the amount of sleep a student gets a week increases, then

the stats grade they receive will increase with a strong positive correlation of

.702. Our hypothesis was incorrect, we were nowhere near our hypothesized

correlation . Our correlation turned out to be r= .045, with a weak, but positive

correlation. We found out our correlation was very weak and close to zero. In

conclusion, we learned the amount of sleep a student has in a week has very little

to do with one’s quarter one stats grade!

Works Cited

Andrulonis, Ally. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Desalve, Chelsea. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Desantis, Franco. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Ferdarko, Hayden. Personal interview. 8 Dec. 2017.

Fischer, Jerica. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Geer, Mia. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Getch, Jacob. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Giles, Corey. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Gregory, Tori. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Gribik, Alex. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Hoffer, Kelli. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Jurcevich, Saige. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Leithner, Karlee. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Meterko, Ian. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Olson, Damon. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Pearce, Micah. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Perry, Legend. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Ponzi, Shane. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Reed, Emma. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Shaffer, Joe. Personal interview. 8 Dec. 2017.

Shaffer, Lane. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Spicher, Jacquelyn. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Stainbrook, Trulee. Personal interview. 7 Dec. 2017.

Tabacsko, Joelle. Personal interview. 8 Dec. 2017.

Welpott, Blaze. Personal interview. 8 Dec. 2017.