Effect of Instructor Humour on Student Learning - Research Paper Example

Experiments aim at providing better results that give an insight into the subject – that is, they can also explain the cause and effect of a set of variables. Lastly, experiments can be repeated several times with different sample sizes until the expected outcome is achieved. Surveys on the other hand are not quite reliable since they will cost more while being repeated. Content analysis is best suited for social science studies that highly rely on research based on already existing literature. According to Babbie (2010), it is "the study of recorded human communications such as books, websites, paintings, and laws”.

Ethical considerations are also essential while conducting a study. According to the APA (2002), five principles should be implemented by the researcher. These include:
 Participants should be informed of intellectual property (IP) rights.
 The researcher should follow informed – consent rules.
 The researcher should be professional.
 The researcher should practice confidentiality.
 Researchers should be capable of solving ethical dilemmas.
Some of the limitations of the experiment include human error.
 
Section 2: SAMPLING
The participants who will be sampled include students from the different levels in the college. The number of participants will be controlled to 40 participants. These participants will be randomly selected – A random sampling technique will be used. The population of interest is individuals aged from 18 to 37 years. In addition to that, there will be other secondary sources of information that will be used to support the evidence being studied. That is, the secondary resources will act as additional literature entries.
It should be noted that having a controlled sample size is key in every study. This is in a bid to prevent the experiment from being extremely tedious, and uncontrolled as well as preventing the use of too many resources. As a result, the sample size that has been selected will perfectly represent the targeted population. Limitations in the sample include Type 2 errors, lack of statistical power, distribution inequalities, and lack of significance.

Section 3: KEY VARIABLES
In this hypothesis testing, the variables under study include the age of the participants and the effect of instructor humor on student learning.
The age of the participants: It is without a doubt that humor has its effect on different age groups differently. For example, younger people may find humor important in student learning as compared to elder people. As a result, this is a variable that is very crucial in this testing.

Effect of instructor humor: This is another variable that is important in this study. It will be used to determine which age group fancies humor in the learning environment.
Independent variable: An independent variable is that which can be changed in a study. Largely, any experiment must have an independent variable. Dependent variable: This is a variable that solemnly depends on the independent variable. As a result, these variables act as functions of the independent variable. About the hypothesis being tested, the dependent variable is the age of the participants.

In the experiment, the hypothesis will be:
“The effects of instructor humor on student learning”


Section 4: ANALYSIS
The level of measurement is a representation of the different methods in which numbers can be used in an experiment. There are four major levels of measurement which are: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. In this study, the nominal level is effective since it is qualitative and it can represent categories well.
The statistical test that will be used will be the use of a table. The table will contain the study variables; that is the age and the “effect of instructor humor in student learning”.
For example:
18 to 22 years: 12 participants prefer that the instructor should have too much humor.
23 to 27 years: 10 participants prefer that the instructor should have minimal humor.
28 to 37 years: 13 participants prefer that the instructor’s humor should be little.
From the table, a graph could be illustrated to show the visual representation of the data collected. In addition to that, the mean, standard deviation, and standard errors could be calculated with ease. Lastly, a nominal value can be used to represent the age bracket categories. Read More