To what extent does sleep quality influence working memory performance among university students?
What is your research question? (1 point)
Answer text Question 1
To what extent does sleep quality influence working memory performance among university students?
What is your dependent variable? (1 point)
Answer text Question 2
Working memory performance, operationalised as total score on a standardised working memory task (e.g., Corsi Block Tapping Test).
What is your independent variable? (1 point)
Answer text Question 3
Sleep quality, operationalised as total score on the Sleep Quality Scale (SQS), and categorised into:
What is your study design? (1 point)
Answer text Question 4
Quasi-experimental between-subjects design.
This is a quasi-experimental design because:
The design is between-subjects because:
What assumption testing will you perform? (5 point)
Answer text Question 5
Prior to conducting the inferential analysis under the Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST) framework, the following assumptions will be assessed:
(a) Normality
The dependent variable should be approximately normally distributed within each group.
This will be assessed using:
If p > .05, normality is assumed.
(b) Outliers
Outliers may distort:
Outliers will be detected using:
If extreme outliers are identified, justification for removal or transformation will be considered.
(c) Homogeneity of Variance
The independent samples t-test assumes equal variances across groups.
This will be tested using:
If p > .05, homogeneity of variance is assumed.
If violated, the Welch correction will be used.
Comments
Comment:
z-scores for skewness and kurtosis (-0.5)
No need for visual inspection using graphs for normality
What kind of t-test will you perform? (1 point)
Answer text Question 6
Independent samples t-test.
This is appropriate because:
The null hypothesis (H₀):
There will be no difference in working memory performance between university students with high and low sleep quality.
The alternative hypothesis (H₁):
Students with low sleep quality will demonstrate significantly lower working memory performance than those with high sleep quality.
The information below provides a guide to writing your Lab Report Part-B. In addition to reading this guide, it is important that you use the lecture and lab content, and your weekly readings, to ensure you have the knowledge and practical skills to complete the Lab Report Part-B. The first two pages of this document provide a broad overview of the lab report. The remaining pages provide detailed information about each section.
Lab Report Part-B overview
You will write a 1000-word lab report, in American Psychological Association (APA) 7th Edition formatting. To complete the report, you will make up an experimental design, and analyse data that are provided to you, and write it up as a full research report.
Lab Report Part-B format
Introduction
* Relevant content: Week 1 practical
Methods
* Relevant content: Week 4 theory and practical
Results
* Relevant content: Week 5, 6, 7, and 8 theory and practical
It is recommended that you perform the analysis in the computer lab in the Week 9 lab.
The output of the analysis should be saved for use in your lab report.
Discussion
* Relevant content: Week 11 theory and practical
References
* Relevant content: Week 11 theory and practical
Word count
The lab report must not exceed 1000 words. The marker will stop reading the report at 1000 words. There is no minimum word count, but it is unlikely that all necessary content can be included and discussed appropriately in fewer than 700 words.
Citations within the body of the lab report (i.e., Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) count towards the word limit, however neither the graph nor the reference list is included in the word count.
Assessment criteria
Introduction
Critical examination of literature.
Research question and hypothesis are plausible and clearly stated.
Methods:
Materials and procedure are clearly explained.
Results:
Appropriate assumption testing
Accurate reporting of descriptive statistics
Appropriate inferential statistics conducted, and results accurately reported.
Discussion:
Clear statement of support (or not) of the hypothesis.
Discussion of the findings in the context of relevant peer-reviewed scientific literature.
Writing:
Clear and coherent writing.
Use of academic language.
No errors of spelling, punctuation, or grammar.
APA + References:
Follow APA standards (7th).
Include between five and 10 relevant references. The guide says the Results section must include assumption testing, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and a graph, and that you must submit your JASP output separately. JASP also supports opening .xlsx Excel files directly, and its independent-samples t-test workflow uses T-Tests → Independent Samples T-Test.
🔍 What JASP is (in simple terms)
JASP is basically like a more powerful, psychology-focused version of Excel, but specifically built for statistical analysis.
- You load your data (usually from Excel)
- Click the type of analysis you want
-
JASP automatically gives you:
- Tables
- Graphs
- Statistical results (APA format ready)
🧠 Why JASP is used in Psychology
Psychology relies heavily on data analysis to test hypotheses. JASP is widely used because it supports the exact methods psychologists need.
Common uses in psychology:
- Testing hypotheses (e.g., does sleep affect memory?)
- Comparing groups (e.g., male vs female differences)
- Measuring relationships (e.g., stress vs performance)
- Reporting results in APA format
📊 What you can do in JASP (Psych examples)
1. t-tests
Used when comparing two groups
Example:
- High sleep quality vs low sleep quality → working memory scores
👉 JASP gives:
- Mean difference
- p-value
- Confidence interval
- Effect size (Cohen’s d)
2. ANOVA
Used when comparing 3 or more groups
Example:
- Different stress levels → academic performance
3. Correlation
Checks relationships between variables
Example:
- Hours of sleep vs memory performance
4. Descriptive statistics
Basic summaries:
- Mean
- Median
- Standard deviation
5. Assumption testing
Important in psychology research:
- Normality (Shapiro-Wilk test)
- Homogeneity (Levene’s test)
- Outliers (boxplots, z-scores)
🧾 Why lecturers prefer JASP
- Produces APA-style tables automatically
- Easy to use (no coding needed)
- Transparent (you can see all settings)
- Good for learning statistics step-by-step
🆚 JASP vs SPSS (quick comparison)
| Feature | JASP | SPSS |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Paid |
| Ease of use | Very easy | Moderate |
| APA output | Automatic | Manual formatting needed |
| Popular in uni | Very high | High |
🧠 How you can explain it to your lecturer (simple version)
You can say:
“JASP is a free statistical software used in psychology to analyse data and test hypotheses. It allows us to run tests like t-tests, ANOVA, and correlations, and it automatically produces APA-formatted results, making it very useful for lab reports and research.” I have done the writing, statistics, data, etc. Need your support to deliver an A-star paper for my report writing. Will attach all the relevant documents for our assessment, revision and strengthening of writing with all the citations under APA 7th format. Minimum five references; maximum 10 references. In the event the JASP screenshots of my data set are found not be in order, appreciate your assistance on rectifying the needful changes and providing relevant JASP folder with the changes.