Conclusion for
Section 1
In English, French and Home Economics the difference between the boys and girls is relatively larger then the difference between Maths and Dbl.Science. From this I can see that girls on average perform better then boys (sadly)! Linking this back to my introduction, I said that, I was going to prove that boys perform better than girls; however, this is not the case. Although I have only drawn one graph I can already see that on average girls have ‘miserably’ exceeded boys.
Below is a table of the difference, the d2 and average difference. I can now also work out the standard deviation.
Standard Deviation = 6.2
This confirms that my conclusion is correct as there is a large deviation; this tells us that the results are more spread out, which is more or less what I have said.
Section 2
In this section of the project I have kept the five G.C.S.E subjects that I chose in the previous section but added another, Greek, to see what the outcome would be. I did this as only a small number of pupils take Greek and according to my results the percentages always seem to be in the nineties. Will this affect the overall result?
Average Pass Rates
To get an idea of the average pass rate I will calculate the following:
- The mean of my chosen subjects over the 9 years, 1993 – 2001
- The mean of all the subjects over the years 1993 – 2001
- The mean of the boys results over the years 1999 – 2001
- The mean of the girls results over the years 1999 – 2001
These results are shown below:
- Average of my results – 57.9% (see table overleaf)
- Average of all subjects – 54.4% (see data sheet)
- Average boys results – 51.9% (see data sheet)
- Average girls results – 60.9% (see data sheet)
Table and graph overleaf………….
Section 2 continued…….
Another comparison would be to construct box plots with this information:
I can now draw three box plots with the use of these results. (Overleaf)
On the graph there were no results for science in 1996 and 1997 so this affected my average slightly. Greek has exceeded the average line immensely and looks completely odd compared to all the other subjects. English just manages to skim above the line but in 1996 and 1997 it dips slightly below. Where as Maths, Science, French and H. E are below average for all the years, with H.E dropping the most. These subjects have neither a positive or negative correlation. On average the subjects seem to keep to a straight line throughout all of the years.
By comparing the three box plots, I can see that the results without Greek are closer to the national average than the results with Greek. Also as the boxes of the subjects without Greek are fairly similar to the results of all subjects, this shows that the results are consistent.
Section 3
I have drawn these tables below to help me analyse my results:
Example, How calculate the moving average….
e.g. 48.8 I took the years 93-96 and added 49.9 +48.9+48.7+49.6 = 48.8
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Conclusion
For Section 3
On the graph the mean result for Greek ranges from 56.4 to 60.0. However this is misleading as only a small number of the more intelligent pupils tend to take Greek each year, so percentages are always in the 90’s, therefore they will produce inaccurate results as the range is 3.6, and therefore showing that this sample is rather biased.
I then decided a better mean could be calculated without the statistics from Greek. These results ranged from 39.7 to 52.8. I believe these results are more realistic as they give a range of 3.1, and therefore this is a fairer sample.
I can now look at the median and compare it to the average without Greek. I can also prove that the median is a more reliable average to use at it is very close to the mean results.
Overall conclusion
For GCSE’s
Looking back at my figures, the national mean is 54.4%. However, my mean without Greek is between 48.8% and 51.3% (using moving average).
This is below the National average and is therefore not a very good sample. The average with Greek is 57.9%, which is above the National average and again is not a very good sample.
If, however, I substitute a different subject instead of Greek it may be possible to get a better sample. Nevertheless, this then would be a biased sample as I am choosing the subject to match the results I want!
My initial hypothesis was incorrect; I said that I was going to prove that boys performed better than girls; however, this so far, is not the case!
I am now going to look at a-levels in more detail and see if my hypothesis can be proven correct ……………..
Section 4
In this section I am going to compare the pupils who got A*-C at GCSE against pupils who got A-E at A-levels and see if the gender gap changes. I will compare GCSE 1999 against A-Level 2001, as these are the same pupils. I will plot them on a scatter graph and conclude in saying whether they have a positive or negative correlation. On the table below I will use – to represent the girls when they do better and + to represent when the boys do better.
The figures above are differences in percentages of boys and girls achieving C or above at GCSE and with E or above at A-level! Overleaf I have drawn a scatter graph.
With the use of the results and the scatter graph I will now convert them into two box plots.
Remember “-” Just means girls did better than boys, where as “+” means that boys exceeded girls. They do not mean the results are below or above zero i.e. minus or plus!
Box Plots overleaf……………………..
Conclusion of
Section 4
Firstly, on the scatter graph there is no correlation. The graph does show that at GCSE level, boys worked in all chosen subjects e.g. Tech, Geog etc. While at A-Levels boys are ahead of girls in subjects such as French, History and Business Studies.
The box plots show that the results of boys and girls are less varied at A-level – the box is smaller – where as at GCSE there is a wide variation. The diagrams also clearly show that the gap between the sexes has closed – the box has moved across with no overlap.
Final conclusion
In my initial hypothesis I said that ‘I am going to prove that the results of boys are above the results of girls’ sadly I have had no luck.
The only section where I have come close to proving this is at A-Level (section 4) and this is only in certain subjects. Hence, my initial hypothesis is incorrect and a better hypothesis would have been that girls are above boys in the core subjects such as Maths, English, Science and loads more, but boys are above girls in options such as French, History and Business Studies.
Therefore from these results I can conclude in saying (with only shame) that the average girl is better then the average boy!!
Overall, I can clearly see that the average student is improving every year, so let’s hope that by 2100 every one will be a genius!!
