The Battle Between Grades and Sleep

Cheyenne Lupole, Emilee Risinger, and Maddie Lee

I. Introduction

For the project we decided to sample survey 25 students to find the correlation
between a students GPA and the hours they spend sleeping. We predicted that there would be a
positive moderate outcome, meaning if a student sleeps more hours then their GPA will be higher
as well. The method used to gather the data, as previously stated, was a sample survey.

II. Data Set

The definition of population is the entire group being studied. For this project,
our population is the DuBois Area High School students. And the definition of a sample is a part
of the population from which we actually collect information. The sample used in this project
was 25 junior and senior students. The definition of a variable is any characteristic of an
individual, a variable can take different values for different individuals (x or y). For our project,
the explanatory variable is sleeping, while our response variable are the student's GPA. Meaning
as sleeping increases or decreases, it will affect the GPA by increasing and decreasing as well.

III. Analyze data using Microsoft Excel

IV. Graph data using Excel

V. Interpret r & r2

Correlation describes the direction and strength of a straight-line relationship

between two quantitative variables. Correlation is usually described as r. The correlation value
for our project is -0.280. If r = -0.280, the correlation is negative, which means as sleep
increases, GPA decreases. The correlation of -0.280 means the correlation is weak, so the
correlation is invalid. Coefficient of determination means variation in the values of y that is
explained by the least squares regression line of y on x, also known as r2. Since r = -0.280, then r2
= 0.078, meaning any prediction has a 7.8% variation.

VI. Prediction

y = -0.104x + 3.868
y = -0.104(7) + 3.868
y = -0.728 + 3.868
y = 3.14 (GPA)

I predict if you sleep for 7 hours, you will have a GPA of 3.1. With a coefficient of
determination of 0.078, the variation will be 7.8%, meaning the prediction is invalid. Our
prediction is invalid because the variation isnt very accurate.

VII. Lurking Variables

 One lurking variable is that not everyone needs a lot of sleep, some people can go
throughout their day on little sleep while others may need more to function. This affects the
scatterplot because people who dont need as much sleep, have more time to study, resulting in a
higher GPA with less sleep. Another lurking variable is that some people work harder for better
grades than others do. This affects the scatterplot because if someone works harder for better
grades, their GPA will be better. And the last lurking variable is extracurricular activities,
affecting the scatterplot because some people participate in more activities resulting in less time
for studying and a lower GPA.

VIII. Conclusion

We hypothesis is that there would be a positive moderate outcome, meaning if a

student sleeps more hours then their GPA will be higher as well. Our hypothesis, however, was
incorrect. The correlation was -0.280 and the direction was negative, which was basically the
opposite of our hypothesis.
Sources Cited

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