MethodologyStudentSurvey:

Design
Thisstudywasarandomizedexperimentbecausewerandomlycollecteddatafromour11th
gradeteamandanalyzedthedatatogainanunderstandingofstresslevelsinthe11thgrade.We
specificallywerelookingtoseewhetherornotstudentsinourteamhadmorestressthantheythoughtwas
theidealamountofstresstohave.Tocollectthisdataasurveywasgiventoallofthe11thgradersonour
teamandtheywererequiredtocompletethesurvey.Twoquestionsthatwewereaskingwere
Onascale
of1to10where1meansyouhavelittleornostressand10meansyouhaveagreatdealofstress,how
wouldyourateyouraveragelevelofstressduringthepastmonth?.Thesecondquestionweaskedwas
Onascaleof1to10where1meansyouhavelittleornostressand10meansyouhaveagreatdealof
stress,whatdoyouthinkisahealthylevelofstresstohaveinlife?.Bycollectingthisdatawecould
comparethenumberstofindouthowoverorunderstressedourteamiscollectively.Thevariablesinthis
studywerethelackofanalyzationofphysicalactivity.Becausewedidnotanalyzeanythingaboutphysical
activityfromourrespondentswewerenotabletoconductresearchpertainingtothatfield.

Participants
Aspreviouslymentioned,oursamplewasour11thgradeteamofabout70students.These
studentsareprimarilybetweentheagesof16to18andarecurrentlyenrolledinhighschool.Iiisequally
mixedbetweenmaleandfemale.Thestudentswereaskedtoparticipateinthissurveyduringclassaspart
ofanassignment.Inadditiontoourtwoquestions,therewasmoreinformationrequestedincludingdata
aboutstressandlifestyle.

Materials
Thewaythesurveywasconductedwasthroughanonlineplatformthatwasemailedouttoall
ofthestudents.Studentsusedtheprovidedtechnologytocompletethesurvey.Thedatafromthissurvey
wasautomaticallyenteredintoanonlinespreadsheetthatcouldbeaccessedfrommultipleusers.The
resultsarereportedintheresultssectionofthisstudy.

Procedure

Todevelopthissurveytheadvisorsofthisstudy,ourteachers,createdawidereachingsurvey
thatcouldbeusedtocollectinitialdataforthisproject.Itincludedquestionsregardingstress,mentalhealth,
physicalactivity,andphysicaleducation.Afterthesurveywasdevelopeditwassentouttostudentstobe
filledout(formoreinformationseeparticipantsandmaterials).Afterthedatawascollectedinanonline
spreadsheetitwasanalyzedbyusandtheresultswereputintoaquantitativeformthatallowedusto
comparethedatawithotherinformationfromthestudy.

Fortheinterviewcomponentwewerelookingathowaneducatorlooksattopicssuchastraditionalphysical
education,theimportanceofPhysicaleducation,andwhateffectivephysicaleducationlookslike.Duetothe
viewsofoursubjectthevariableweencounteredwasthelackofanopposingviewpoint.Whileothers
peopleinterviewedawidevarietyofeducatorsforthisstudy,ourspecificinterviewjustfocusedonthe
personalandacademicbeliefsofthesubject.ThesubjectoftheinterviewwasMr.EricBrazelton.Mr.
BrazeltonteachesaFitnessCourseatthePreussSchoolatUCSD.Hisclasshasaprimaryfocuson
nutrition,butisstillconsideredphysicaleducationbecauseofactivitycomponents.Wepreparedthe
questionsinadvancedandconductedtheinterviewviaphone.Hewasaskedquestionsregardingthetopics
previouslymentioned.ToconducttheinterviewwedidsomeresearchregardingMr.Brazeltonsschooland
whatwouldbethemosteffectivequestionstoask.Thanwepreparedthequestionsinadvanced.We
scheduledtheinterviewtobeduringlunch,andonthephone.Weconductedtheinterviewandthen
transcribedthatinterviewintoatextform.Wethencodedtheinterviewsothatitcouldbefurtheranalyzed.

Analysis

Aftercollectingthesurveydataregardingstresslevels,wetookthedataandanalyzedit.FIrst
wecalculatedsomebasicfigurestogiveusanideaofwhatthenumberslooklike.Wecalculatedthemean

andmedian.Theaveragestressthatrespondentssaidtheyhavehadwas6.3.Theaverageidealstress
levelwas4.2.Themedianwas7and4,respectively.Thenwedecidedthebestwaytoanalyzethedata
fromavisualperspectiveisthroughaboxandwhiskergraphsowecalculatedthefirstquartile,third
quartile,andtheoutliers.Foridealdata,thefirstquartilewas3andthethirdquartilewas5.Throughthiswe
cansaythatmostoftheresponsesforcurrentstresslevel,wasbetween3and5.Forcurrentdata,thefirst
quartilewas4andthethirdquartilewas8.Thatmeansthatmostoftheresponseswerebetween4and8.
Whenyoulookatthedataitbecomesveryclearthatrespondentsaremorestressedthantheyshouldbe.
Thissurveywasconductedonatenpointscale,becauseofthisyoucouldconcludethatrespondentsare
40%morestressedthantheyshouldbe.

Afterconductingourinterviewweanalyzedthetextandlookedforspecificpiecesofinformationand
overarchingthemesthatcouldhelpusorsupportourresearch.Tobeginthatprocesswehighlightedpieces
oftextandassignedthemcodesbasedinwhattheyweresaying.Examplesincludeathleticethics,nutrition
curriculum,orstaterequirements.Thenwedividedthecodesintothreebroadercategoriestraditional
physicaleducation,physicaleducationcurriculum,andteachingphysicaleducation.THenwewroteanalytic
memosthatsummarizedtheinterviewandthemainthingswediscoveredintheprocessofconductingit.