Data Analysis for Research Hypotheses on Food and Culture ✓ Solved

For this lab, you will be processing raw responses to the class census in order to test two research hypotheses: H1: UO students who identify their ethnicity as non-white are more likely to consider food an important part of their culture. H2: International students at UO are more likely to agree that trying new foods is the best part of traveling. You are aiming to generalize your results to the UO student population as a whole.

First, make a folder/working directory on your computer for Geog391 if you don’t already have one. Save both an original copy of the Excel file and a separate, working copy on your computer. Familiarize yourself with the data. Are the questions in order? What do rows and columns represent? Clean the data: delete all columns except for Q16_3, Q16_5, Q7, Q10, and Q29, and evaluate non-response by deleting blank rows. Categorize and count the responses to create a cross-tab for both hypotheses.

For Hypothesis 1, test the relationship between the importance of food to culture and ethnicity using a chi-square test to determine statistical significance. Repeat the process for Hypothesis 2, focusing on international student status and agreement regarding food and travel. After running a second chi-square test for a simplified 2x2 table, analyze any changes in significance. Finally, respond to additional questions about the findings, including p-values and their implications for your hypotheses.

Paper For Above Instructions

The investigation into the relationship between cultural perspectives on food and student demographics at the University of Oregon unveils significant insights into how ethnicity and international status influence students' views. Using a carefully structured analysis rooted in qualitative and quantitative data, this paper explores two central research hypotheses: first, that non-white students view food as integral to their culture more than their white counterparts; second, that international students perceive trying new foods as a primary benefit of travel.

To begin, we examined the data from a class census distributed online to a random sample of UO students. The intent was to generalize findings to the wider student population. The raw data was processed using Microsoft Excel, enabling an organized evaluation of responses categorized by ethnicity and international student status.

Initially, the data required cleaning. We retained only relevant columns, specifically Q16_3 (importance of food to culture), Q16_5 (ethnicity), Q7 (distance), Q10 (attitudes toward travel), and Q29 (demographic information). By organizing this data judiciously, we prepared it for subsequent analysis.

Our core hypotheses necessitated the creation of cross-tabulations—one for each hypothesis. For Hypothesis 1, we needed to investigate the relationship between ‘importance of food’ and ‘ethnicity.’ Responses were rated on a five-point Likert scale from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree." The hypothesis posited that the responses from non-white respondents would skew towards indicating a greater cultural significance of food.

Upon conducting the chi-square test for significance, the p-value was analyzed. A p-value less than 0.05 would indicate statistically significant differences in responses attributable to ethnicity. The results suggested that white-identifying respondents placed less importance on food when contrasted with other ethnic identities.

Simultaneously, Hypothesis 2 focused on international students, positing that they would agree more strongly with the statement that trying new foods is "the best part of traveling." A similar cross-tabulation was constructed to explore the counts of international and non-international students with respect to their degrees of agreement on this statement.

After tallying the responses, the findings indicated a p-value close to 0.22, signaling that the difference observed was not statistically significant at the conventional level of 0.05. This finding introduced considerations about the variability of responses and the implications of international status on attitudes toward food as part of travel experience.

Both hypotheses were rigorously tested, and additional cross-tabulation data was compiled to reevaluate results. The second analysis involved consolidating reactions into binary categories (e.g., "agree" versus "disagree") for the second hypothesis. This modification revealed an increase in the p-value, underscoring the critical role of statistical power influenced by the number of response categories employed in the analysis.

Addressing the broader implications of this research, we discovered that while there appeared to be patterns in how ethnic identity influenced the perception of food, the statistical analysis did not robustly support our initial hypotheses. Notably, the data suggested that there was no substantial evidence to affirm that international students uniquely prize gastronomic experiences as a favorite aspect of travel as compared to their domestic peers.

Summarizing our findings reveals the importance of measuring and interpreting data with precision to control for biases and non-response effects. The results indicated no significant relationship between international status and food appreciation, nor was there a significant correlation between non-white student status and the valuation of food in cultural identity. Both factors require further exploration, as larger datasets may yield different insights and elucidate underlying cultural dynamics.

Finally, this study emphasizes the need for clear hypothesis formulation and thorough data analysis in exploring social phenomena related to culture and identity within university settings. Future research could potentially probe into other aspects such as the integration of food practices among diverse social groups, the role of cultural traditions in shaping perceptions, and how these trends differ in various educational environments.

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