Michelle Quinton 1136212 PS2808 stats seminar paper

A Critical Analysis of Decorating Personal Places; A Descriptive Analysis (Hansen & Altman 1976).

The aim of Hansen and Altmans 1976 paper Decorating Personal Places covered two points, the first was to analyse how college students personalise their dormitories, their personal place. The second was to examine any attempts at imitation or modeling around the room-mates decorations, and whether there was a connection between the volume of decoration and the social viability, the main example given being the grades and drop-out rates. This essay will evaluate the participants, statistical tests and results of these to determine the validity of this study. This study was an observational study, observing the decorating habits of the students being monitored, it is not a naturalistic study since the students were aware of the observation and this knowledge may have affected the items used, either to encourage the students to decorate more, so as to have more to photograph, or to cause them to restrict the items chosen. Hansen and Altman petitioned 55 double occupant rooms at the Utah State University, chosen from three dormitories at random. From those 55 rooms, 41 took part in the study, with a 32 to 42 square foot space above the room-mates beds being photographed at week 2 and week 11 of the first semester. The aim by the researchers was to investigate the decorating habits of college students, Hansen and Altman choose to only use male students for their study, despite not stating in their aims that their intention was only to monitor male students. Since this only covers one part of the population of the campus, these results can only be generalised across the male population, using female students as well would have allowed a comparison between the decorating habits of males and females, as well as dropout rates and grades. Comparing gender, volume of decoration and categories of decoration would have given a more comprehensive study. A later study into the gender differences of bedroom design and activity in 8th and 9th graders (13-15 year olds) found that girls and boys decorating their rooms differently, with girls using more stuffed animals and pictures of people, including themselves than boys (Jones, Taylor, Dick, Singh & Cook, 2007) . Had Hansen and Altman included female students they may have
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Michelle Quinton 1136212 PS2808 stats seminar paper

found that the volume of decorating in each category was altered, with a possible difference between which category was more likely for male and female students. The photos taken were analysed using content analysis, and then matched with grades and drop-out rates taken at the end of the autumn, winter and spring semesters. Content analysis involved coding the forms of decoration used with the labels personal interests, values, entertainment, reference, personal relationships and abstract. A grid was placed over the photos and the number of squares that items were within was counted, dependent on their category. The volume of decoration overall was also measured, at both 2 weeks and 11 weeks, with a comparison between the categories seen and the volume measured. Hansen and Altman stated a .99 on reliability with Pearson product-moment correlation for the data from volume measures, and 92% agreement on the categories. No explanation is given for what test was used to reach this 92% agreement, an appropriate test for this would be Cohens kappa but the score given does not show this as a high Cohens kappa would be between 0.7 and 1, rather than the 92% stated. It is difficult to determine what reliability test was performed on the categories, therefore the fact that it had a score of 92% has no meaning, the reliability is then in doubt. Details about the volume data are not give, but since the squares on the grid used represent a specific amount of wall space, (it is stated the distance from the wall and width of the photos is more or less the same across all), then it is likely to be interval data. Since this data is parametric the use of the Wilcoxon matched pairs rank test, shown on table 1, is inaccurate, Wilcoxon is a non-parametric test. The appropriate test in this instance, for parametric data is a t-test, since both sets of data are from the same set of subjects; this would be a dependent t-test. Even if the analysis used had been correct, very little of the data is shown, the table simply states the number of squares that are taken by each category and whether this was significant, the descriptions given in the general descriptive information give a percentage of the overall squares taken up by each category but there are no means or standard deviations. Neither these results nor the correlation coefficient tests were reported correctly.
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Michelle Quinton 1136212 PS2808 stats seminar paper

In table two the statistics for stayers and leavers is analysed, the students who did not decorate at all were not included in these figures. Since the aim of the study was to investigate a correlation between volume and category of decoration and the dropout rate, it seem unusual to leave out those students that did not decorate at all. How many of those students dropped out? It is possible that all of them did, or none of them. The photos were taken in week two and week eleven of the autumn semester, the dropout rates were calculated as far as the end of the spring term, taking a photo of the students rooms at the beginning of the spring term may have shown an increase or decrease in the level of decoration before dropping out. Again this information could have affected the overall data outcome. No information as to the reasons for the students dropping out, it is assumed that since the rooms were not decorated to the same extent as other students that this shows a lack of commitment to the course and university and that this is their reason for leaving. Since no questions were asked as to why the students dropped out, there is an assumption that it can only be a lack of commitment. A study conducted into the motivations of leavers as to why they chose to drop out was conducted by the Department for Education and Skills, which found that the most common reasons for leaving in the first year were a mistaken choice of course; financial problems directly related to participation in higher education and personal problems (Davies & Elias, 2003, p. iv). The lack of commitment to the university could be caused by one of these reasons or independent from them. From a statistical point of view, this data is inaccurate, the test referred to being used is a Mann-Whitney U test, as stated earlier the data for the volume measures is parametric data, the Mann-Whitney U test is a non-parametric test. For comparing the volume of decoration over each category between leavers and stayers an independent t-test is needed, since the students are split into two separate groups and the data is parametric. With the number of leavers being only 7 and the number of stayers being 75, more data is held in reference to those that stayed than those that left, it is not possible to gain a good result for any inferential tests, to see a correlation a much bigger sample is necessary.

In conclusion, the paper targets an area with little previous research available, very little research was around at the time into the way that individuals decorate their personal
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Michelle Quinton 1136212 PS2808 stats seminar paper

space. However, despite stating that their aim was to investigate college students, they then proceed to only study male students, completely ignoring the decorating habits of female students. The statistical tests used were neither correct nor correctly reported on and without the full data it would not be possible to understand how they came to conclusion to use the tests that were used. When comparing the volume of decoration between leavers and stayers, it seems imprudent to leave out the students who did not decorate at all, had this data been included it could have strengthened the argument or completely changed the outcome. The paper examine any ulterior motive for leaving outside of a non-commitment to university, nor does it examine other motives for the method of decoration, such as the influence of being observed or the possibility that having a roommate may in fact reduce the choice of items displayed. Overall an interesting topic with the possibility of significant results if the subject sample was widened to include both genders and more students as well as the possibility of a questionnaire or interview discussion choices for decoration. Since the wrong tests have been used it is not possible to determine whether the results would be significant, and whether the findings to answer the question of whether the level of decorating determined the level of commitment to the university. [Words 1512].

References.
Davies. R. & Elias. P. (2003). Dropping out: a study of early leavers from higher education. Department of Education and Skills. Retrieved 04/12/2012, https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/RR386.pdf Hansen. W. B. & Altman. I. (1976) Decorating personal places: a descriptive analysis. Environment and Behavior, vol.8(4) 491-504. Jones. R. M., Taylor. D. E., Dick. A. J., Singh. A. & Cook. J. L. (2007). Bedroom design and decoration: gender differences in preference and activity. Adolescence, Vol. 42(167).