Total 30 70
Mean= ∑fx= 77= 2.33
N 30
A low mean number of books indicate a very low amount of boys who read
Mode: 1
This means the most frequent number of books read is 1, indicating that boys read less number of books per week
Median= n+1 = 30+1 :31:15.5th value: 2 as 15-16 represent values present in that frequency
2 2 2
Since the median is 2, this shows that books read by boys were of low numbers.
As shown above, there is no correlation between number of books read and modal mark for boys
GIRLS’ DATA
MARK AVERAGES (GIRLS)
Total 30 2000
Mean=∑fx = 2000 = 66.7, thus average achieved by the female body was from 61-80.
N 30
Mode= 61-80, meaning that the largest number of girls gained marks within that range
Median: = 15.5th value: 40-60.
median value shows that midway modal mark % of the girls was lower, showing poorer academic status of the girls
NUMBER OF BOOKS READ (GIRLS)
Total 26 69
\
Mean==∑fx = 69
N 26
Mode: 2, which shows that most girls preferred a lower amount of books to read
Median: 3.5th value: 1. This shows that the middle amount of books read was 1, which is even lesser than the median number of books by boys.
As shown, there is no correlation between number of books read and modal mark for girls
Step 2
The next step was to do the chi squared test. It was necessary to see which were dependent and which were independent. This will show if there is relationship between no of book genres read and modal grade marks. Modal mark groups were made into below and above 61-80. This is because calculations made previously for girls and boys generally lay round 61-80. Those with the exact average were added to the above group.
Phase 1: Mark & gender
Ho = Modal mark and gender are independent
H1= Modal mark and gender are dependent
Observed Values
The expected values were calculated using the GDC:
Expected Values
Using the GDC we can find the value of X² calc using the GDC. The following results are shown
From above, the following was deduced
X² calc: 0.3
P: 1.0
Using the P value at 5%, decision taking was made
Since P >0.05,
Thus accept Ho
Therefore modal mark and gender are independent
The same test was used for the number of books read and gender. The groups were the number of books<3 and >3
Phase 2: Number of books read & Gender
Ho: Number of books read and gender are independent
H1: Number of books read and gender are dependent
Observed values
Expected Values
So X²= 1.8
P=0.8
Since P>0.05, at 5% expectancy level, we accept Ho
Therefore number of books read and gender are independent
Phase 3: Type of books read & Gender
This phase focused on the different type of books read against the gender
Observed values
Expected values
So X²= 26.5
P=0.0
Since P<0.05, at 5 % level, we reject Ho
There for type of books read and gender are dependent
Pearson’s correlation coefficient
Next was the Pearson’s correlation co-efficient. This was also used to find out correlation between the modal mark and no of books read, but using a different method.
NOTE: for (y), the median of the selected range of modal marks was used to represent (y)
BOYS’ DATA
The statistic for the table for boys was shown using the 2-Var Stat function on the GDC:
Now the values obtained were used to calculate the correlation coefficient of r using the [LinReg] function of the GDC
Therefore r= 0.174 and r²= 0.303
Value of r is a very low positive value. It shows a very weak positive correlation between modal marks and number of books read for the male gender. In other words this means that the amount of books read are independent on the gender for males, implying that, instead of the time spent reading, several factors could have affected the performance of the boys in English Language.
The value of r² shows that 30% if the variation in the number of books read can be accounted for by the variation in the modal mark. In other words, approximately 70% of the variation is attributed to other factors.
GIRLS
The values were tabulated on the T.I calculator, then using the [LinReg] function, found the following:
r= 0.24
r²= 0.56
The value of r is a very low positive value. It is shows a weak positive correlation between modal mark and number of books read for girls. As such, it shows a hint of books affecting the rate at which girls do well in English, but due to the weakness of the correlation, this assumption could be otherwise.
The r² value shows that 56% of the variation in the modal mark earned by girls can be accounted by the number of books read. Unlike the boys, this figure shows that approximately 50% of the variation is related to other factors. With this, it can be said that there is half a possibility that girls get better marks by reading more books.
Analysis and conclusion
Step 1
The 30 boys surveyed: Most gain generally from 61-80 mark and most read a little of amount of 1 book per week. Their average mark is 63.7 and their median is 61-80. Their modal value is also 61-80. This mark with correlation to number of books read shows that number of books read has very little to do with modal mark earned.
The 30 girls surveyed: Modal mark is 61-80. Most read a higher amount of books of 2 per week than boys, but is still quite low. Their median value for the marks is 40-60 and their average mark is 66.7. With this mark, in relation to the number of books read, there is little correlation between the two. Moreover
Step 2
Fist chi-squared test done was for gender and modal. There is no connection as the value of x²= 1.76 and it was less than the critical value. Because of this, both gender and modal grade are independent. The second was gender and no of books read. This also showed no connection as x²=0.3, which is less than the critical value. Thus there is little correlation between modal mark and gender, as both are independent of each other. There were also various results for the type of books each gender preferred to read. For instance, romantic books were the most books read by the girls, while horror was preferred most by the boys. In short, the girls seem adapt a certain attitude reading as the books they read are of higher literary value, with complex vocabulary and writing style. However the boys mostly read horror books that are of little vocabulary, and of little distinct literary value
Step 3
The coefficient value for girls was very low, with but that for boys was high. For the boys, r= -0.96, showing a strong negative and r²= 0.84, also showing strong negative correlation between male gender and the number of books read/modal marks. For the girls, although positive, the r value=0.247, showing a very weak positive correlation between the female gender and no of books read/modal mark Also for the boys, the r² value means that’ there is a 84% chance that the value could be correlated. In other words there is high possibility that the number of books read by the boys did not affect their academic status in English Language. Furthermore, the r² value for girls, it shows that ether is a lesser 56% chance that the values cannot be correlated. This means that there is about an even probability that the number of books read by girls affects their earned modal mark in English language.
Thus of all the steps to find the relationship between number of books read and modal mark in English language for both gender has proven that they are independent of one another and there is little or no correlation. The chi squared test showed that all the variables are independent of one another, thus no correlation between them. The type of books read notable showed on genre read often by a gender. From this, one can assume that the type of books read could somehow affect the mount of marks earned in the subject. The mode median and mean showed that even those who read less number of books often got good marks, contrasting the earlier hypothesis. Therefore, these facts show that there is no relationship between n of books read and modal grade earned by both genders in English Language. Instead, it is assumed that the academic performance of both genders could be affected by several other factors, such as the number of hours slept or the subject preference.
Reliability and Validity
There are a few factors which influence the reliability of this experiment.
Only 30 girls and 30 boys were chosen, as there was the need to use a an equal amount of people for each gender in order to gain fairer results
A specific grade was chosen: grade 9 as it has the largest class population, thus more data gained
There is a chance that those who filled in the questionnaire may have not been honest and wrote false marks or number of books they read per week
Students seemed to have more of higher marks than lower, showing the unreliability of their answers in the questionnaire, as well as lower amount of books read per week. This may be the reason why there is little or no correlation at all for the girls, and a string negative correlation for the boys. In fact, it is plausible to say that from the results gained, the girls who have positive, but low correlation seem more trustworthy than that of the boys’
In the modal grade, the only categories given were that of below 40 to 100. This is because as confirmed with the English Language teacher, no student gained below 40 very often. Thus values of 10-30 were summarized into that of “below 40”
