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Data Analysis, Lab Report 2019: Body size perception
Also note, the tables we’ve included in this worksheet and on the lab slides are not in APA format, and
may not always be the best way to present your data. So don’t just copy and paste!
Descriptive statistics for 2D vs 3D
This first set of descriptives and analyses do not have a formal hypothesis, rather, you are simply asking
an intitial question about whether presenting the bodies in 3D influences our judgment of body size
compared with when bodies are presented in 2D (i.e. one eye turned off in the Vive so there is no 3D).
Descriptive statistics for the 2D vs 3D size judgements. You are interested if adding 3D matters.
Mean Median Standard Deviation
Size
Judgment 3D
Size
Judgment 2D
Was there a difference in mean size judgement? If yes, what was the direction of this difference?
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Inferential statistics
Descriptive statistics are useful for describing your data but they do not formally test whether your
manipulation matters. To do that we require inferential statistics. When comparing 2 groups it is
common to use a t-test. The t-test produces 3 key values that must be reported correctly.
1. The degrees of freedom (df)
2. The t value
3. The p value
Now we test for a difference between conditions using an inferential statistic, the
t-test…
Was the mean size judgment significantly different for the 2D and 3D conditions?
eg. t(df) = t-value, p = p-value
Was there a significant difference in mean size judgement?
How can you tell?
What does this result mean?
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Descriptive statistics for our main question: does surrounding information
matter?
We want to test one hypothesis – which will allow us to evaluate whether the mean size
judgment is larger when the body is surrounded by smaller bodies, compared with when the
surrounding bodies are larger.
We have calculated some descriptive statistics for you that describe our data (e.g., means and
standard deviations), and as a class, you will also use inferential statistics, a t-test, to determine
whether or not your hypothesis is supported.
Descriptive statistics for the size judgements. You are interested in whether surrounding information
biases size judgments.
Mean Median Standard Deviation
Size Judgment
Small Surround
Size Judgment
Big Surround
Was there a difference in mean size judgement? If yes, what was the direction of this difference?
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Inferential statistics
Descriptive statistics are useful for describing your data but they do not formally test the hypothesis. To
do that we require inferential statistics. When comparing 2 groups it is common to use a t-test. The t-
test produces 3 key values that must be reported correctly.
1. The degrees of freedom (df)
2. The t value
3. The p value
Now we can address our hypothesis using an inferential statistic, the t -test…
Hypothesis 1
If our hypothesis is supported then the mean size judgment will be larger when the surrounding
bodies are small, compared with when the surrounding bodies are large.
eg. t(df) = t-value, p = p-value
Was there a significant difference in mean size judgement?
How can you tell?
Does this result support your hypothesis?
