3. 'Larks and Owls'

Researchers used a questionnaire to find out from 500 students whether they preferred

carrying out cognitive activities in the morning or in the evening. The students who preferred

mornings were called 'Larks' and those who preferred evenings were called 'Owls'. Students

found to have no preference were called 'In Betweens'. The results of the questionnaire

found 315 'Owls', 53 'Larks' and 132 'In Betweens'.

The researchers wanted to test whether 'Larks' were better at cognitive activities in the

morning and 'Owls' better in the evening, as predicted from the preferences.

Using the 368 students who were 'Larks' or 'Owls', the researchers asked them to perform

cognitive activities in controlled conditions. There were two types of cognitive activity: one

tested creativity and the other tested analysis skills. Each type of activity had 20 cognitive

tasks for the students to complete.

Each student had to complete all 40 cognitive tasks twice on one day, between 9am and

10am in the morning, then again between 3pm and 4pm in the afternoon. The scores

indicate the number of tasks in each type of cognitive activity that the students performed

correctly.

Table 1 shows the mean number of tasks out of 40 that were correct.

'Larks'

'Owls'

Totals

9am to 10am

Creative

10

8

18

Analysis

15

12

27

Total

25

20

45

3pm to 4pm

Creative

Table 1

6

12

18

Analysis

14

15

29

Total

20

27

47

Overall

total

45

47

92

(Source: Adapted from Roberts and Kyllonen (1999))/nStatistical research

a) Analyse the data provided in Table 1 to explain three conclusions that the

researchers might draw from these results./nTable 2 shows the mean number of tasks out of 40 that were correct for 'Larks' and

'Owls' in the morning.

'Larks'

'Owls'

Totals

9am to 10am

Creative

10

8

18

Analysis

15

Page 7

12

27

Total

25

20

45

Table 2

b) Analyse the data provided in Table 2 to explain whether the results are likely to

show a significant difference. You do not need to perform a hypothesis test.

The total word limit for question 3 is 300 words. This does not include calculations.