Google Sheets and Hypothesis Testing Revised 02.20.15

Below is the link to my Google Sheets page showing how we performed a t-test on data collected from a survey given to students on the Ebola virus.

Google Sheet McBride

The hypothesis (or question) being asked was "Did a presentation given to the students on the Ebola virus have an influence on (or change) student responses to a survey?"

It should be noted here that only 6 questions (they were really statements) from the survey were analyzed. There were 103 students that took the survey on the Ebola virus before the presentation and then they were given the same survey after the presentation.

Each of the statements only had 4 possible answers ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree."

The independent variable in this experiment was the presentation. The dependent variable was the post survey responses.

The null hypothesis in this analysis would be that there was no statistical difference in the responses of the students to the survey after they saw the presentation. Any difference seen would be due to error in measurement or chance.

If the P value is less than .05, the null hypothesis must be rejected which would mean that there was a statistically significant difference between the survey given before the presentation (pre) and the survey given after the presentation (post). It was not chance or error. The presentation did make a difference in survey responses of the students.

If the P value is greater than .05, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected which would mean that though there is a difference between the pre-presentation and post-presentation survey results, that difference was caused by chance or error and is not statistically significant.





The results show that only questions 29 and 31 showed a statistically significant difference in the pre and post responses which would mean that the presentation did influence the students on those two questions.

Google Sheets are not as easy to use as Excel, but they are easier to share so that is a plus in education. Besides, it is easy to calculate in Excel and just copy and paste to Google Sheets.

I did learn how to add formulas in Google Sheets. When I put the equal sign in the formula line, and the first letter of the formula I wanted to use, choices showed up and I was able to choose most of the actions allowed in Excel.

Because we can cut and paste from Excel into Google Sheets which allows us to share our work, this would be considered an enhancement according to the SAMR model.

This would also be a useful tool when you are trying to analyze your data and share with your colleagues or the administration. (ISTE NETS t, IV B).