This coursework assignment requires you to produce a partial lab report and present it in a format suitable for publication in an academic journal. The coursework deadline is 18:00hrs on 28th November 2022 and submission is online via the Turnitin link of the module webpage (on Aula). The assignment contributes 50% of your module grade. Marking guidelines can be found at the end of this document, along with some general advice on how to complete the coursework within this document. This partial lab report will be completed looking to continue your work on correlation, simple and multiple regression analysis.
For this partial lab report assignment, you will need to imagine that you have carried out research at Coventry University, using a multi-dimensional questionnaire to decipher as to whether perceived ostracism, experiential avoidance, dysfunctional beliefs about sleep, pre-sleep arousal (somatic, cognitive), and sleep hygiene are predictors of individuals sleep quality.
Background and Aims
Poor sleep quality (e.g., having disrupted or inadequate sleep) is known to have a negative impact on psychological wellbeing and cognitive performance (see Palmer & Alfano, 2017). It is therefore important to examine potential factors that may contribute to poor sleep quality. By identifying such factors, psychotherapists may be able to better pinpoint therapeutic processes to improve sleep quality. One key predictor of poor sleep is that of perceived stress. In particular, perceived ostracism (e.g., feeling ignored or excluded; Williams, 2009) is known to lead to poor sleep quality (e.g., Waldeck et al., 2020). Emotion regulation is also suggested to have an important role in how we sleep. According to Hayes et al. (2006), the more people try to avoid their internal private events (i.e., thoughts, feelings, sensations), the more distress these individuals will experience. Therefore, if a person were worried about not being able to sleep (for example), and they tried to avoid thinking about such thought (e.g., “I am still not asleep”), it may actually increase their state of worry (i.e., by engaging in experiential avoidance [EA]). Some research has suggested that EA is associated with poor sleep quality (e.g., Waldeck et al., 2020).
Other factors that are known to influence sleep quality include dysfunctional beliefs about sleep, pre-sleep arousal, and sleep hygiene. Indeed, having dysfunctional beliefs about sleep (e.g., unrealistic expectations, faulty appraisals about sleep) have been shown to be associated with a vulnerability to stress-related sleep disturbance (e.g., Yang et al., 2011). Pre-sleep arousal is divided into two components – somatic (e.g., physiological sensations such as increased heartbeat) and cognitive (e.g., increased worrying and dwelling on not being able to sleep). Pre-sleep arousal has been shown to significantly predict poor sleep quality (e.g., Gorgoni et al., 2021; Waldeck et al., 2020). Finally (although do note there are other known predictors out there in the empirical literature), poor sleep hygiene (e.g., watching tv in bed, studying in bed) has been shown to lead to poorer sleep in a student sample (e.g., Brick et al., 2010).
This study set out to determine as to which of these variables (perceived ostracism, experiential avoidance, dysfunctional beliefs about sleep, pre-sleep arousal [somatic, cognitive], and sleep hygiene) best predicts sleep quality in students.
Coursework Instructions
• What do I need to do? Using the data provided on Aula (sleep.sav), you are
required to identify the appropriate method of analysis in order to address the above
research question. Second, you are to conduct the analysis using SPSS or JASP. Third, you
are to write up the ‘study’ partially, writing up the methods, results, and discussion sections.
Here are some tips:
• You will need to write this report as though you carried the study out yourself;
remember you should write as a formal scientific report with past tense and third
person narrative.
• Think about what design the study involves
• Use the information provided below to write out your methods section, if unsure or
missing any information based on what has been learnt in lectures and based on
your reading what would you have done to have ensured as strong a study design as
possible?
• In relation to the Results Section: If you create graphs such as histograms, plots that
you use to screen the data, then these should be placed in the appendix.
• Please ensure that appropriate SPSS/JASP output is submitted in the appendix.
• Use peer-reviewed journal articles as a guide whenever writing a lab report.
• What do I need to write-up? A partial report with word count limit of 1,500 words
consisting of Methods, Results, Discussion, with Reference and appendix sections (not part of word count).
