CR2010: Answers Week 19 Workshop 1) What are the null and alternative hypotheses for these analyses you carried out? The null hypothesis for ANOVA is that there is no difference between any of the means compared. In the present analyses, the null hypotheses would be that the there is no difference among the levels of the mindfulness factor in impacting individuals' the ability to take another person's perspective. The alternative hypothesis of this test is that *at least* two of the means are significantly different. Formally, you could write these down as: H0: m1 = m2 = m3 H1: m1 + m2 OR m1 m3 OR m2 m3 2) Is the effect significant? Report in APA style using the format indicated above. Using the template above, you could write: There was a significant effect of the variable mindfulness on perspective taking, F(2, 207) = 75.354, p < . 001, partial-n2 = . 42. 3) What is the effect size of the effect? Interpret the effect. Partial-n2 = . 42 is the effect size in ANOVA. We can interpret this effect as large. 4) What levels of your factor are significantly difference from each other? Use the template above to report the differences. When you compare the conditions, you can decide in which order to report them. Pay attention so that all the Means and Standard Deviations are reported across effects. Notice that I am rounding to the second decimal point. Of course you could
round to the third or any other number and more decimals you report the more precise the calculation (but also less readable) The control condition (M = 3.79, SD = . 66) was not significantly different from the mindfulness condition (M = 3.60, SD = . 60) and significantly different from the attention condition. The mindfulness condition was significantly different from attention condition (M = 4.94, SD = . 80). 5) Interpret the differences: Is mindfulness effective or not in increasing perspective taking? Which condition is effective compared to the others? According to the results of the experiment, the only condition that seems to affect individuals' ability to take the perspective of others is the 'attention' condition. Mindfulness does not differ from the control one (which was doing nothing) whereas the attention condition differs from both. If I wanted to improve people's perspective taking skills, the results of this experiment suggest I should ask them to perform an attentive task rather than a mindfulness training.