Lab 5: one-sample t-test
1. Standardized measures seem to indicate that the average level of anxiety has increased
gradually over the past 50 years. In the 1950s, the average score on the Child Manifest Anxiety
Scale was µ = 15.1. A sample of n = 16 of today’s children produce the following scores:
18,17,17,15,14,21,20,20,19,21,15,16,18,19,20,22
a. Conduct a one-sample t-test to determine if today’s kids are significantly more or less
anxious than kids in the 1950s (µ = 15.1). Include the relevant output from the t-test. (2
points)
b. What do you conclude from the test? In APA style, write up a concluding statement
regarding this analysis. (4 points).
A one-sample t-test was conducted to determine whether children today report
different levels of anxiety compared to children in the 1950s. The results indicated a
significant increase in anxiety levels among today's children, t(15) = 5.23, p< .001. The
current sample ( M = 18.25, SD = 2.41) scored significantly higher on the Child Manifest
Anxiety Scale than the historical population mean of 15.1. These findings suggest that
children today experience significantly higher levels of anxiety than children in the
1950s
2. Research shows that people who move from home to home frequently as children tend to have
lower than average levels of well-being as adults. To further examine this relationship, a
psychologist obtains a sample of n=12 young adults who each experienced 5 or more different
homes before they were 16 years old. These participants were given a standardized well-being
questionnaire for which the general population has an average score of 𝜇 = 40. The SPSS
results are as follows. The research question is to determine if moving frequently as a child is
associated with significantly different well-being.
a. What do you conclude from the test? In APA style, write up a concluding statement
regarding this analysis. (4 points).
A one-sample t-test was conducted to evaluate whether young adults who moved
frequently as children (5 or more homes before age 16) exhibit different levels of
well-being compared to the general population (𝜇 = 40). The results indicated a
statistically significant difference in well-being scores, t(11) = -3.17, p = .009 (two-tailed).
The sample reported significantly lower well-being ( M = 37.00, SD = 3.28) than the
population average. These findings suggest that frequent childhood relocation is
associated with lower levels of adult well-being.