A researcher was interested in studying stress as it related to academic performance incalculus. She also believed that humor reduced stress and might increase academicperformance. She had two classes one hour apart, one at 8 a.m. and one at 10 a.m. onMonday, Wednesday, and Friday. The students self selected into the classes. The researchercollected baseline stress data at the beginning of the semester. In one class she utilized humoron a daily bases and was sure to provide the class with at least one scripted joke or shorthumorous video per day. In the other class, she taught the students as normal with littlehumor, no scripted jokes, and no funny videos. On the day of the midterm, she measuredtheir stress levels before giving the calculus exam. She gave each class the same calculus testand recorded their achievements levels on the exams. Stress was measured using a 10question instrument which summated the 10 questions into one stress construct. Theinstrument had been around for decades and had high reliability and validity measures.
-Stress is most likely which of the following?
A) A variable with many levels and probably normally distributed
B) A variable with two levels and probably ordinal
C) A constant among students in college
D) A variable with three to four levels and probably ordinal
E) A nominal variable with many levels

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Stress, as measured by a 10-question instrument that sums up into one stress construct, is likely to be a variable with many levels, reflecting the varying degrees of stress among individuals. Its measurement on a scale suggests it could be normally distributed across a population, with most people experiencing moderate levels of stress and fewer people experiencing extremely high or low levels.

A Researcher Was Interested in Studying Stress as It Related