Consciousness

Topic:

How Does Sleep Affect You?

Statistical Concepts Covered:

In this applet, you’ll explore correlational data – data that show a relationship between two variables, but which cannot be used to make claims about causation. You will also think about the potential drawbacks of collecting data by asking individuals survey questions about their habits.

Introduction:

In Chapter 5 you read about the debate surrounding how much sleep you need. While you might think that you can function well on less sleep, studies show that there is a solid relationship between sleeping and learning and memory. In this activity, you will analyze data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which measured adolescents on a wide range of variables including sleep habits and emotional and academic well-being. Nearly 5000 individuals were measured for the study, and you will analyze representative data from 500 of them to draw conclusions about how sleep (or lack thereof) can affect academic and social variables.

Richard Alan Hullinger, Indiana University, Bloomington
Melanie Maggard, University of the Rockies

Question 1

Using the drop down menu below the graph area, create a histogram that shows the distribution of reported hours of sleep for the students. (Select “Sleep Frequency” for the y-axis.) How would you describe the distribution?
Correct.
Incorrect. Most of the students report getting 7 or 8 hours of sleep per night, with many fewer students getting either more or less sleep than that.
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