Week 7: What’s next?

Aashi H -

Welcome back, everyone! This week’s blog will focus on the next steps for the project.

Analysis

I learned how to analyze my results statistically. I will be using the Matched Pairs T-Test. The t test is calculated as follows:

(Sample mean difference) – (Population mean difference) / ((Sample difference standard deviation) / (Square root sample size))

This number is the test statistic value, which is essentially how many standard deviations you are away from the mean. From here, the t value is converted into the p value, which is the probability that the change is occurring by chance. This p value is compared to a critical value to see if we accept or reject the null hypothesis. 

I did the analysis on the number of responses I have right now, and there is a statistical significant difference that is causing the responses! In other words, the change between the pre and post questionnaire scores are not due to chance, and the music does have a significant impact on reducing stress levels.

Questionnaire

The next steps for the questionnaire is getting it out to as many people as possible and getting responses. There are a few conditions for using the t-test above. The biggest one is that the sample size across the study must be 30 to use the Central Limit Theorem and make this generalizable. Therefore, the goal now is to get the sample size up to 30.

Paper & Presentation

I am also working on writing my paper and making my presentation. I tend to procrastinate on my paper, so I made a commitment to start extra early this time! I am excited for my presentation and final product, and hope to make it engaging to all.

That’s all for this week! I will be continuing to volunteer at the MIM and learning more about the museum. Their next special exhibit is about flutes from all over the world, including crystal flutes and ones made of bird bones. Isn’t that fascinating?

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Comments:

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    shreyash_p
    Wow, Aashi! Your approach to using a Matched Pairs T-Test is really neat - especially how you’re calculating the t-value and translating that into the all-important p-value. It sounds like your results already show a true (not-by-chance) impact of music on stress levels, which is so exciting. Getting your sample size up to 30 will definitely give your findings more weight, so good luck recruiting more participants!
    March 27, 2025 at 1:46 pm - Reply
    anshul_b
    Hey Aashi, I find the work you are doing at the MIM to be wonderful, especially the crystal flutes. I was wondering what exactly will your final product be?
    March 27, 2025 at 4:03 pm - Reply
    akshaya_k
    Hi Aashi! This sounds like such an interesting project! I'm really excited to see your results. How many responses do you have so far? How long do you think it will take you to reach 30 responses?
    March 30, 2025 at 10:51 pm - Reply
    camille_bennett
    Hi Aashi, great work! How did you determine that Matched Pairs T-Test is the best option for your project?
    April 1, 2025 at 10:14 am - Reply
    aashi_h
    Thank you for your well wishes, Shreyash!
    April 3, 2025 at 10:48 am - Reply
    aashi_h
    Hi Anshul, thank you for your question! My final product will be my AP Research paper, as well as a tri-fold/poster to show off my findings and the important pieces of my project.
    April 3, 2025 at 10:50 am - Reply
    aashi_h
    Hi Akshaya, thank you for reading! I hope to get 30 responses by this weekend, when I have to shift my focus to the analysis portion and writing my paper. By the looks of it, I might get just enough responses!
    April 3, 2025 at 10:51 am - Reply
    aashi_h
    Thank you for the encouragement, Ms. Bennett! I learned all my statistics from Dr. Carpenter. He introduced the test and taught me how to do it, after which I read about a little more and applied it. All credit to Dr. Carpenter!
    April 3, 2025 at 10:53 am - Reply

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