Analysis of Heights of Singers

1. Abstract
The study has been conducted to study the heights of singers in NY Choral Society
in 1979. The singers reported their heights to the nearest inch. The voice of singers are
divided in four parts from highest pitch to the lowest pitch are Soprano, Alto, Tenor and
Bass. The first two are typically sung by female voices and the last two by male voices.
One can examine how height varies across voice range, or make comparisons of sopranos
and altos and separate comparisons of tenors and basses.

2. Problem Statement
From the data collected by this study question arises whether there is significant
differences exists between the heights of singers. Also how the heights of singers varies as
the pitch of sound keep on increasing. Also separate comparisons can be made between
Soprano and Alto and then between Tenor and Bass.
Testing of Hypothesis: There is not significant difference between the mean heights of
four group of singers.
Testing of Hypothesis: The average of heights of High pitched voice singers are equal.
Testing of Hypothesis: The average of heights of Low pitched voice singers are equal.
One-Sample T-Test: The mean height of Soprano singers is equal to 70 inches.

3. Description
Heights of singers in the NY Choral Society in 1979. Self-report, to the nearest
inch. Voice parts in order from highest pitch to lowest pitch are Soprano, Alto, Tenor,
Bass. The first two are female voices and the last two are male voices. The original
dataset included two divisions for each voice part. This dataset reports only soprano 1,
alto 1, tenor 1, and bass 1 from the original dataset.

Number of cases: 39

Variable Names:

1. Soprano: Heights of sopranos (in inches)

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 2. Alto: Heights of altos (in inches)
3. Tenor: Heights of tenors (in inches)
4. Bass: Heights of basses (in inches)

The data (1) is shown in Appendix.

4. Analysis

4.1 Graphical Presentation

15

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Count

0
60.00 62.00 64.00 66.00

Soprano

The above figure is histogram for the heights of Soprano who have low sound pitch. The
average heights of Soprano are 64.25. The shape of the distribution is negatively skewed
and is low peaked.

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 10

Count 6

62.00 64.00 66.00 68.00 70.00

Alto

In above histogram the heights of Alto singers are shown which have low sound pitch and
are female. The average heights of these singers are 64.88 inches. The shape of
distribution is high peaked and is positively skewed. The Alto singer heights are high
peaked than Soprano and are also positively skewed.

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Count

66.00 68.00 70.00 72.00 74.00

Te nor

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In the given histogram of Tenor, the average heights of singers are 69.15. These singers
have relatively high sound pitch and are also male singers. The shape of histogram in this
case is positively skewed and is less peaked than both previously discussed Alto and
Soprano.

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Count

68.00 70.00 72.00 74.00

Bass

The above histogram shows the heights of Bass singers who are male and their voice parts
in low pitch. The shape of the histogram is positively skewed and is more peaked than
Tenor. This also indicated that heights of Bass singers have the mean of 70.17.

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 4.2 Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive Statistics

Std.
N Minimum Maximum Mean Skewness Kurtosis
Deviation
Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std. Error Statistic Std. Error
Soprano 36 60.00 68.00 64.2500 1.87274 -.496 .393 -.445 .768
Alto 35 60.00 72.00 64.8857 2.79465 .313 .398 -.089 .778
Tenor 20 64.00 76.00 69.1500 3.21632 .398 .512 -.519 .992
Bass 39 66.00 75.00 70.7179 2.36141 .104 .378 -.373 .741
Valid N (listwise) 20

In the above output the descriptive statistics are calculated by running SPSS. This output
shows that 36, 35, 20 and 39 observations of Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass are selected
respectively.

The minimum height of Soprano singers is 60 and maximum height is 68 inches. The
minimum height of Alto singers is 60 and the maximum height is 72 inches. Similarly the
minimum heights of Tenor are 64 inches and maximum is 76 inches. And at the end Bass
singers shows the minimum heights of 66 inches and maximum of 75 inches. This
analysis shows that Bass singers are the tallest of all others. This will also be proved as
the average heights of Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass are 64.25, 64.88, 69.15 and 70.71
respectively. This is confirmed as Bass singers have the highest average height in inches
which is 70.71 inches.

The coefficient of skewness of Soprano is -0.496 which shows that the distribution of
heights of Soprano singers is negatively skewed. The coefficient of kurtosis is -0.445 for
the distribution of heights of Soprano singers. This value indicates that the distribution is
low peaked. The coefficient of skewness of Alto is 0.313 which shows that the
distribution of heights of Alto singers is positively skewed. The coefficient of kurtosis is
-0.089 which shows that the distribution is relatively high peaked as compared with that
of distribution of heights of Soprano singers. Both Soprano and Alto are low pitched
voices and are sung by female singers. Now we analyze the other two singers. The
coefficient of skewness of Tenor is 0.398 which shows that the distribution of heights of

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Tenor singers is positively skewed. The coefficient of kurtosis is -0.519 which shows that
the distribution of heights of Tenor singers is low peaked as compared to all the other two
singers discussed above. The coefficient of skewness of heights of Bass singers is 0.104
which shows that they are positively skewed. The coefficient of kurtosis of heights of
Bass singers is -0.373. This value indicates that the distribution of heights of Bass singers
is relatively high peaked than Tenor singers’ distribution of heights.

Comparison between the High Pitched & Low Pitched Singers

High pitched (Soprano, Alto) singers have less variation than low pitched (Tenor, Bass)
singers in distribution of heights. Also high pitched singers are less positively skewed
than low pitched singers but their distribution of heights is relatively more peaked than
the distribution of heights of low pitched singers.

4.3 Normality

To check whether the data selected is normal or the data collected from the study
lies in the normality NPar test is run by using the SPSS and following result is obtained:

One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test

Soprano Alto Tenor Bass

N 36 35 20 39
Normal Parameters(a,b) Mean 64.2500 64.8857 69.1500 70.7179
Std. Deviation 1.87274 2.79465 3.21632 2.36141
Most Extreme Absolute .294 .112 .140 .107
Differences Positive .135 .093 .140 .107
Negative -.294 -.112 -.067 -.098
Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z 1.767 .663 .625 .666
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .004 .771 .830 .767
a Test distribution is Normal.
b Calculated from data.

This NPar test, called Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test, indicates that if the value of Asymp Sig
is greater than 0.05 then we can conclude that the data lies in degree of normality.
However if its value is less than 0.05 then the data is not normal and we need to transform

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it to convert it into the degree of normality. But here we will nor transform the data, we
will use the data whether it is normal or not. Now from the given table of NPar test we
conclude that the values of Alto, Tenor and Bass singers are 0.777, 0.830 & 0.767
respectively, which are greater than 0.05. So we can say that these singers distribution of
data is normal. Whereas the value of Soprano singer heights is 0.004 which is less than
0.05. So we can conclude that this distribution or data doesn’t lies in the degree of
normality.

4.4 Hypothesis

Assumptions
For testing the suggested hypothesis following assumptions are made. Analysis of
Variance methods have in common a set of two assumptions:
1. The standard deviation of heights of all four singers is equal - this is sometimes
referred to as an assumption of the homogeneity of variance. Again, we can represent this
assumption for groups 1 through n as

2. The samples are randomly selected from the population.

Testing of Hypothesis:
H0: The average of heights of all the four singers is equal/same.
H1: At least one group of singers have different average number of heights.
Level of Significance = α = 0.05

By using the heights of singers as “Data” variable and a variable “Group” containing a
specific assigned value to each of four groups of singers or we can say as a grouping
variable ANOVA is run using the SPSS and following output is yield (given on next
page):

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 ANOVA

Data
Sum of
df Mean Square F Sig.
Squares
Between Groups 1058.529 3 352.843 55.800 .000
Within Groups 796.740 126 6.323
Total 1855.269 129

From the above output the p-value is 0.000 which is less than the pre-assigned level of
significance. Thus it can be concluded that the average heights of singers of four different
groups are significantly different.
Further it is important and necessary to observe average heights of group of singers which
differ significantly. The LSD test conducted using SPSS will help us. The following
output of LSD test will help us to discuss this issue.

Multiple Comparisons

Dependent Variable: Data

LSD

Mean
Difference (I- 95% Confidence Interval
(I) Group (J) Group J) Std. Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound
1.00 2.00 -.63571 .59692 .289 -1.8170 .5456
3.00
-4.90000(*) .70130 .000 -6.2878 -3.5122
4.00
-6.46795(*) .58119 .000 -7.6181 -5.3178
2.00 1.00
.63571 .59692 .289 -.5456 1.8170
3.00
-4.26429(*) .70486 .000 -5.6592 -2.8694
4.00 -5.83223(*) .58549 .000 -6.9909 -4.6736
3.00 1.00
4.90000(*) .70130 .000 3.5122 6.2878
2.00
4.26429(*) .70486 .000 2.8694 5.6592
4.00
-1.56795(*) .69159 .025 -2.9366 -.1993
4.00 1.00
6.46795(*) .58119 .000 5.3178 7.6181
2.00 5.83223(*) .58549 .000 4.6736 6.9909
3.00
1.56795(*) .69159 .025 .1993 2.9366
* The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.

LSD Test:

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 In above output LSD test is applied to check the significance of heights of each
singers group. This test makes pair wise comparisons between different groups of singers.
First, we will make comparison of Soprano with other three groups. The mean of heights
of Soprano and Alto are not significantly different as the p-value against this pair is 0.289
which is greater than the level of significance. Similarly the mean of heights of Soprano
and Tenor & Bass are significantly different as the p-value against these both pairs is less
than the level of significant. Secondly, we will make comparison of Alto group with other
three groups. The mean of heights of Alto and Soprano are not much different as the p-
value against this pair is greater than the level of significance. The average of heights of
Alto are significantly different from that of Tenor and Bass mean heights due to lower p-
value than level of significance. Thirdly, the comparison of Tenor with other three groups
shows that, mean of Tenor heights differ significantly from those of Soprano and Alto,
whereas it is not significantly different from that of Bass because the p-value of this pair
is greater than the level of significance. Lastly, in comparison of mean of heights of Bass
with other three groups mean heights it is concluded that average heights of Bass singers
differ significantly from all the other three groups mean heights. This due to the reason
that the p-value of all the pairs of Bass with other three groups is less than the level of
significance.
From the above discussion it can be concluded that only the heights of Bass singers differ
significantly from Soprano, Alto and Tenor. The mean of heights of Soprano, Alto and
Tenor doesn’t differ significantly.

1. Testing of Hypothesis

H0: The average heights of High Pitched voice parts singers (Soprano & Alto) are same.

H1: The average heights of High Pitched voice parts singers (Soprano & Alto) are not
equal.

Level of Significance = α = 0.05

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By using the heights of Soprano singers as data variable and assigning a specific value in
group variable, ANOVA is run using the SPSS and following output yield:

ANOVA

Data1
Sum of
df Mean Square F Sig.
Squares
Between Groups 783.139 1 783.139 170.834 .000
Within Groups 334.647 73 4.584
Total 1117.787 74

Conclusion: The p-value in above table is less than the pre-assigned level of significance,
so we can conclude that mean heights of high pitched (Soprano & Alto) differ
significantly.

2. Testing of Hypothesis

H0: The mean of heights of Low Pitched (Tenor & Bass) singers are equal.

H1: The mean of heights of Low Pitched (Tenor & Bass) singers are different.

Level of Significance = α = 0.05

By using the heights of Tenor and Bass singers as data variable, ANOVA is run using
SPSS and following output is yield:

ANOVA

Data1
Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 32.502 1 32.502 4.536 .038
Within Groups 408.447 57 7.166
Total 440.949 58

Conclusion: The p-value in above table is less than level of significance so there is
significant difference exists between the average heights of Low pitches voice singers.

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3. T-Test

H0: The mean (µ) of Soprano singers heights is equal to 70.

H1: The mean (µ) of Soprano singers heights is not equal to 70.

Level of Significance = α = 0.05

By using Soprano as test variable and taking test value equal to 70, one-sample t-test is
run by using the SPSS and following output is yield:

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 70

Mean 95% Confidence Interval

t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Difference of the Difference

Lower Upper
Soprano -18.422 35 .000 -5.75000
-6.3836 -5.1164

Conclusion: The p-value in above table is less than level of significance of 0.05, which
shows that the mean of heights of Soprano singers is not equal to 70.

Recommendations

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Following recommendations are suggested from conducted study:

 The average heights of Soprano and Alto singers are relatively same, and the mean
heights of Tenor and Bass singers are relatively same.
 The overall mean heights of these four groups of singers are significantly
different.
 Bass singers are tallest in all singers as they have mean height of 70 which is
greater than other three.
 The mean heights of Soprano singers differ significantly from 70.
 The heights of singers varies or continue to increase from high pitched voice
singers to low pitched singers.
 The mean heights of Male (Tenor, Bass) singers is greater than the mean heights of
Female (Soprano, Alto) singers.

Reference:

http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/DASL/Stories/Music/Singers Heights.html

APPENDIX:

DATA

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Soprano Alto Tenor Bass
64 65 69 72
62 62 72 70
66 68 71 72
65 67 66 69
60 67 76 73
61 63 74 71
65 67 71 72
66 66 66 68
65 63 68 68
63 72 67 71
67 62 70 66
65 61 65 68
62 66 72 71
65 64 70 73
68 60 68 73
65 61 73 70
63 66 66 68
65 66 68 70
62 66 67 75
65 62 64 68
66 70 71
62 65 70
65 64 74
63 63 70
65 65 75
66 69 75
65 61 69
62 66 72
65 65 71
66 61 70
65 63 71
61 64 68
65 67 70
66 66 75
65 68 72
62 66
72
70
69

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