The Correlation between Academic Test Scores and Hours of Study - Research Paper Example

The Correlation between Academic Test Scores and Hours of Study Background Duckworth and Seligman (2005) conducted a long-term research on 140 s at the 8th grade level. The results show that self-discipline was positively correlated with academic performance, school attendance, choice of high school to attend, and time spent doing assignments. On the other hand, it was negatively correlated with the hours spent watching television. These outcomes strongly suggest the reason for failure of students is not because of their lack of intelligence, but mainly their inability to discipline themselves. Moreover, the study carried out by Kember et al (1995) supports the aforementioned findings. Their research delved on the correlations among hours spent studying, learning style, and academic performance as measured by grades. The study made use of 34 mechanical engineering students who were requested to log into a study diary within a weeks time. The tool utilized for students learning style was that authored by Biggs – the Study Process Questionnaire. The results suggest that a shallow approach to learning is strongly correlated with longer study hours and high class attendance. It is thus possible to still have low grades despite high class attendance. The efficiency of the students learning style thus matters still. The study has been undertaken to determine the correlation between number of hours of study and academic test score. Moreover, it intends to ascertain if there are significant differences in both hours of study and academic test scores on the basis of gender. As such, the following are the hypotheses tested in the current research: Hypotheses The following are the null and alternative hypotheses for the study: Ho1: There is no significant correlation between hours of study and academic test score. Ha1: There is a significant correlation between hours of study and academic test score. Ho2: There is no significant difference between hours of study of males versus females. Ha2: There is a significant difference between hours of study of males versus females. Ho3: There is no significant difference between academic test scores of males versus females. Ha3: There is a significant difference between academic test scores of males versus females. Methodology Research Approach The research takes on a quantitative approach, mainly gathering numerical data on two variables: hours of study and academic test scores. Two other variables have been gathered, namely, gender and grade. Gender has two levels, male and female. There are also two levels for grade, Grade 12 and Grade 13. Sampling There are a total of 40 respondents for the study, which have been selected randomly. There are 20 males and 20 students from each of Grades 12 and 13. Random sampling has been used to ensure that the sample that is yielded is representative of the whole population of interest. Thus, valid conclusions may be garnered. Procedure The randomly selected students were asked to explicitly give consent for their participation in the study. They were asked through phone interviews about the variables of interest, namely, number of hours of study and academic performance scores. All the data have been manually encoded through Excel, and then transferred to SPSS 15.0, through which these were analysed statistically. Method of Data Analysis Descriptive statistics were computed to be able to describe the characteristics of the sample used in the study. These include the mean, median, and mode which are measures of central tendency. The standard deviation has likewise been computed. There are two parametric tests that have been used to test the hypotheses. To be able to determine if there is a significant correlation betwen hours of study and academic test scores, the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient has been used. This measure of correlation is utilized if both variables of interest have been measured in the interval scale. Moreover, the t-test for two independent groups has been computed to ascertain the difference between males and females, in both hours of study and academic test scores. Results Descriptive Statistics Table 1. Mean, median, and mode for points in academic test and hours of study: Females. Points Hours N Valid 20 20 Missing 0 0 Mean 34.0500 11.7000 Median 34.0000 10.0000 Mode 33.00(a) 4.00(a) a Multiple modes exist. The smallest value is shown The mean academic test score for females is 34.05 points. In addition, the mean for hours of study is 11.70 hours. The median for academic test score is 34.00 points, while the median for hours of study is 10.00 hours. There are multiple modes for academic performance, the smallest value of which is 33.00 points. Likewise, there are multiple modes for hours of study, the minimum if 4.00 hours. Table 2. Mean, median, and mode for points in academic test and hours of study: Males. Points Hours N Valid 20 20 Missing 0 0 Mean 31.4000 6.8500 Median 31.0000 5.0000 Mode 30.00(a) 3.00 a Multiple modes exist. The smallest value is shown The mean academic test score for males is 31.40 points. In addition, the mean for hours of study is 6.85 hours. The median for academic test score is 31.00 points, while the median for hours of study is 5.00 hours. There are multiple modes for academic performance, the smallest value of which is 30.00 points. Likewise, there are multiple modes for hours of study, the minimum if 3.00 hours. Table 3. Mean, median, and mode for points in academic test and hours of study: Grade 12. Points Hours N Valid 20 20 Missing 0 0 Mean 32.7500 9.3000 Median 33.0000 7.0000 Mode 31.00(a) 3.00 a Multiple modes exist. The smallest value is shown The mean academic test score for Grade 12 students is 32.75 points. In addition, the mean for hours of study is 9.30 hours. The median for academic test score is 33.00 points, while the median for hours of study is 7.00 hours. There are multiple modes for academic performance, the smallest value of which is 31.00 points. Likewise, there are multiple modes for hours of study, the minimum if 3.00 hours. Table 4. Mean, median, and mode for points in academic test and hours of study: Grade 13. Points Hours N Valid 20 20 Missing 0 0 Mean 32.7000 9.2500 Median 32.5000 5.5000 Mode 32.00(a) 4.00 a Multiple modes exist. The smallest value is shown The mean academic test score for Grade 13 students is 32.70 points. In addition, the mean for hours of study is 9.25 hours. The median for academic test score is 32.50 points, while the median for hours of study is 5.50 hours. There are multiple modes for academic performance, the smallest value of which is 32.00 points. Likewise, there are multiple modes for hours of study, the minimum if 4.00 hours. T-tests on Academic Test Scores and Hours of Study by Gender Academic Test Scores Table 5. Means and standard deviations of hours of academic performance scores by gender. Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Points Male 20 31.4000 3.36233 .75184 Female 20 34.0500 4.17354 .93323 On academic test scores, the mean for males is 31.400, with a standard deviation of 3.36 points. Table 6. T-test of hours of academic performance scores by gender. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Points Equal variances assumed -2.211 38 .033 Equal variances not assumed -2.211 36.353 .033 The t-test for academic performance scores by gender shows that there is a significant difference between the academic test scores of males and females (t= -2.21, p=.033). Looking at the means of the genders, females have a hire mean at 34.05. This suggests that in general, females yield higher test scores compared to their male counterparts. Hours of Study Table 7. Means and standard deviations of hours of sudy by gender. Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Hours Male 20 6.8500 7.19119 1.60800 Female 20 11.7000 9.49848 2.12392 On hours of study, the mean for males is 6.85 hours, with a standard deviation of 7.19 hours. Table 8. T-test of hours of hours of study by gender. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Hours Equal variances assumed -1.821 38 .077 Equal variances not assumed -1.821 35.395 .077 The t-test for hours of study by gender shows that there is a significant difference between the academic test scores of males and females (t= -1.821, p=.077). Looking at the means of the genders, females have a hire mean at 11.07. This implies that overalll, females spend more time studying compared to to their male counterparts. Correlation of Academic Test Scores and Hours of Study by Gender Table 9. Correlation of academic test scores and hours of study. Points Hours Points Pearson Correlation 1 .858(**) Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 40 40 Hours Pearson Correlation .858(**) 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 40 40 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). The Pearson correlation coefficient between academic test scores and hours of study suggest that there is a significant relationship between academic test scores and hours of study (r=.858, p=.00). The strong, positive correlation indicates that as the number of hours increase, a corresponding increase is observed on academic test scores. Discussion The results of the study suggest that females seem to have significantly longer study hours and higher academic performance compared to their male counterparts. The longer study hours may be indicative of the self-discipline which has been referred to in the study of Duckworth and Seligman (2005) where they assert that self-discipline has a strong correlation with time spent doing assignments and academic performance. In addition, it is also possible that females employ more effective learning approaches in their study time. This is supported by the findings of Kember et al (1995) where they share that the a shallow approach to learning is strongly correlated with longer study hours and high class attendance. It is thus possible to still have low grades despite high class attendance. The efficiency of the students learning style thus matters still. The current study likewise indicates that there is a significant correlation between hours of study and academic performance. This indicates that given the right learning approach, exercising discipline – as manifested by number of hours dedicated to study – may account for exemplary academic performance. Conclusion The present study demonstrated that there is a strong, positive correlation between hours of study and academic performance. There are also significant differences between males and females in terms of hours spent in study and academic performance, respectively. These indicate that the exercise of self-discipline coupled with the right learning approach can lead to effectual academic performance. References Duckworth, A. & Seligman, M. Self-discipline outdoes iqin predicting academicperformance of adolescents. Psychological Science. Retrieved on February 21, 2009 from http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~duckwort/images/PsychologicalScienceDec2005.pdf. Kember, D., Wang, Q., Pomfret, M. & Wong, E. (1995). Learning approaches, study time and academic performance. Journal Higher Education, 29(3), 329-343. Read More