Case Study

Diagnose the error in the research assistant's suggestion. Explain how the researcher should determine the value of NN and calculate the correct degrees of freedom (dfdf) for this correlation test.

Case context: A researcher examines the relationship between weekly exercise hours and resting heart rate. They collect data from a sample of 28 participants, measuring both variables for each person. The researcher wants to evaluate the sample correlation coefficient by converting it into a tt score. A research assistant suggests that since there are 56 total data points (28 exercise scores and 28 heart rate scores), the degrees of freedom should be calculated using N=56N = 56.

Question: Diagnose the error in the research assistant's suggestion. Explain how the researcher should determine the value of NN and calculate the correct degrees of freedom (dfdf) for this correlation test.

Sample answer: The research assistant's error is treating the individual measurements as separate independent observations (N=56N = 56). In a correlation test, NN represents the number of paired observations, which is 28. Using the formula df=N2df = N - 2, the correct degrees of freedom is 282=2628 - 2 = 26.

Key points:

  • Identify that the research assistant incorrectly used individual measurements (N=56N=56) instead of paired observations.
  • Explain that NN represents the number of paired observations (which is 28).
  • Calculate the degrees of freedom using the formula df=N2df = N - 2, resulting in 26.

Rubric: The response must correctly identify that NN should be the number of paired observations (28, not 56) because each participant provides a pair of scores. It must apply the formula N2N - 2 and calculate the correct degrees of freedom as 26.

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Updated 2026-05-26

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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