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THE E-JOURNAL OF STUDENT RESEARCH has been made possible through grants provided by the United States Department of Education, South Central Bell Telephone, American Petroleum Institute, Intertel Foundation, Springhouse Publishing Corporation, Graham Resources, Inc., Chevron Oil Company, Central Louisiana Electric Company, Louisiana State Department of Education, and National Science Foundation. Mandeville Middle School and the National Student Research Center thank these organizations for their generous support of education.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Spelling Abilities of Boys and Girls
2. Can 6th Grade Students Identify Books With Their Authors?
3. Which Gender Spells Better?
4. Magazine Interests of Sixth Graders
5. Do Sixth Grade Students Like To Read?
TITLE: Spelling Abilities of Boys and Girls
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Courtney Lowe
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: John I. Swang, Ph.D.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
I want to know who spells better: girls or boys. My hypothesis
states that girls will spell better than boys.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, I wrote my statement of purpose, review of literature,
and hypothesis. Next, I wrote a methodology, developed a
questionnaire, and drew a random sample from a population of
6th grade students at Mandeville Middle School. Then I
administered my questionnaire. When I got them back, I scored
them and analyzed the data. Then I wrote my analysis of data.
Next, I wrote my summary and conclusion where I accepted or
rejected my hypothesis. Finally, I applied my findings to the
real world and published my research.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
I handed out twelve questionnaires and nine were returned.
There were 3 questionnaires returned from the boys and 6 from
the girls.
A majority of 2 boys spelled rodomontadist correctly. A
majority of 2 spelled aforementioned correctly. A majority of
2 misspelled arraignment. A majority of 2 spelled frivolous
correctly. None of the boys spelled buffoonery correctly. All
of the boys spelled frequent correctly. A majority of 2
spelled delinquency correctly. A majority of 2 spelled
communication correctly. None of the boys spelled nowadays
correctly. Only 1 boy spelled inaugurated correctly.
Only 2 girls spelled rodomontadist correctly. All 6 spelled
aforementioned correctly. A majority of 4 spelled arraignment
correctly. A majority of 3 spelled frivolous correctly. Only
one girl spelled buffoonery correctly. All the girls spelled
frequent correctly. A majority of 5 spelled delinquency
correctly. All the girls spelled communication correctly. A
majority of 3 spelled nowadays correctly. A majority of 4
spelled inaugurated correctly.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
Out of a possible 30 responses on the spelling test, the three
boys had 15 (50%) correct responses. Out of a possible 60
responses, the girls had 41 (68%) correct responses.
Therefore, I accept my hypothesis which stated that girls would
spell better than boys.
V. APPLICATION:
I can apply my findings to the world by telling teachers to
spend more time teaching boys spelling skills because the boys
aren't spelling as well as girls.
TITLE: Can 6th Grade Students Identify Books with Their
Authors?
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Dana Blount
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: John I. Swang, Ph.D.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
I am doing a scientific research project on how well 6th grade
students at Mandeville Middle School identify books with their
authors because I would like to know if 6th graders pay
attention to the author when reading a book. My hypothesis
states that the majority of 6th graders at MMS will be able to
identify books with their authors.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, I wrote my statement of purpose, conducted my review of
literature, and developed my hypothesis. Then I wrote my
methodology and developed my questionnaire. Next, I
administered my questionnaire to a random sample of twelve
students at Mandeville Middle School. When I got them back, I
scored my questionnaire and analyzed my data. Then I wrote my
summary and conclusion. Next, I applied my findings to
everyday life. Finally, I published my abstract in The Student
Researcher and The E-Journal of Student Research.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
I handed out twelve questionnaires, but only nine were
returned.
Six out of nine students had read Where The Red Fern Grows.
Five had read Island Of The Blue Dolphin and Sign Of The
Beaver. Three had read The Prince and The Pauper. Two had
read Kidnapped and The Miracle Worker. Only one student had
read Across Five Aprils. None of the students had read The
Slave Dancer, Harriet The Spy, or Tuck Everlasting.
A majority of five out of seven students did not think that it
was important to know the authors of the books that they read.
A majority of seventy-three out of ninety responses at
identifying the authors of books on my questionnaires were
incorrect.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
After analyzing my data, I discovered that only seventeen out
of ninety responses trying to identify books to their authors
were correct. Therefore, I reject my hypothesis which stated
that the majority of students would be able to identify books
and authors.
V. APPLICATION:
I can apply my findings to everyday life by telling publishers
that children are not paying attention to the authors of their
books. Consequently, they should make the author's name more
noticeable on the book cover and title pages.
TITLE: Which Gender Spells Better?
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Justin Moree
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: John I. Swang, Ph.D.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
I wanted to find out which gender, boys or girls, spells
better. My hypothesis stated that girls would spell more words
correctly than boys.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, I selected a topic, wrote a statement of purpose,
conducted a review of literature on spelling, and formed a
hypothesis. Next, I wrote a methodology. I then developed a
questionnaire, drew a random sample of 12 sixth grade students,
administered the questionnaires, and scored them when returned.
Next, I wrote an analysis of data, and summary and conclusion.
Then I applied my findings to everyday life and published my
abstract.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
I sent out twelve questionnaires and 9 were returned. Five
boys and 4 girls returned there questionnaires. A majority of
3 boys and 3 girls spelled ghetto correct. A majority of 4
boys and only half the girls spelled hereditary correct. A
majority of 3 boys and no girls spelled immunize correct. A
majority of 3 boys and 4 girls spelled migratory correct. Half
the boys and half the girls spelled plausible correct. Only 2
boys and 2 girls spelled flagellum correct. No one spelled
deferential correctly. No boys and one girl spelled deciduous
correct. Only 2 boys and no girls spelled quintessence
correct. Out of 45 possible answers for boys, only 36% were
correct. Out of 36 possible answers for girls, 39% were
correct.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
In my research, I discovered that girls spelled better than
boys. Therefore, I accept my hypothesis which stated that
girls would spell more words correctly than boys.
V. APPLICATION:
I now know that teachers need to emphasize the teaching of
spelling skills with boys more than girls. Teachers should
also make spelling more interesting for boys.
TITLE: Magazine Interests Of Sixth Graders
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Paul Brand
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: John I. Swang, Ph.D.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
I would like to find out the magazine interests of sixth
graders at Mandeville Middle School. My first hypothesis
states that the girls' favorite magazine will be Teen magazine.
My second hypothesis states that the boys' favorite magazine
will be Sports Illustrated.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, I wrote my statement of purpose and conducted my review
of literature. Second, I developed my hypothesis and a
methodology. Third, I developed my questionnaire and drew a
random sample of twelve sixth grade students. Fourth, I
administered the questionnaire and tallied the results when
they were returned. Fifth, I analyzed my data and wrote my
summary and conclusion. Sixth, I applied my findings to the
outside world and published my abstract.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
Out of twelve questionnaires, 9 were returned. Five of them
were completed by females, and four were completed by males.
All the boys said that their families ordered 3 or more
magazines. The average number of magazines that the boys
ordered was 3.75. The majority of the boys agreed that
magazines are fun to read. The majority of the boys agreed
that they liked to read magazines in their spare time. The
majority of the boys thought that magazines were worth their
price. The boys favorite kinds of magazines were: sports(2),
fashion(1), science(1), hobby(1), and cars(1). The majority of
the boys agreed that they liked to read magazines more than
books. Half of the boys thought that magazines gave more
information than books. The boys favorite magazines were:
Car(1), Boy's Life(1), Sports Weekly(1), 321 Contact(1), Video
Games(1), Game Pro(1), S.W.A.T. Pro(1), and Sports
Illustrated(1).
All of the girls families ordered 3 or more magazines. The
average number of magazines that the girls ordered was 3.20.
All of the girls agreed that magazines were fun to read. The
majority of the girls agreed that they liked to read magazines
in their spare time. The majority of the girls
said that magazines weren't worth their price. The girls
favorite kinds of magazines were: sports(2), home(2),
fashion(2), science(2), and hobby(1). The majority of the
girls agreed that they liked to read magazines more than books.
The majority of the girls said that the reason they read
magazines is because it takes less time than books. The girls
favorite magazines were: Teen(1), Seventeen(2), Sports
Illustrated For Kids(1), Zillions(1), YM(1), American Girl(1),
Space Probe(1), Conservationist(1), and Bopper(1).
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
In my research, I discovered that the girls favorite magazine
was Seventeen. The boys did not have a favorite magazine in
common, they listed 8 different magazines. Therefore, I reject
my first hypothesis which stated that the girls favorite
magazine would be Teen. I reject my second hypothesis which
stated that the boys favorite magazine would be Sports
Illustrated.
V. APPLICATION:
I will apply my findings by telling librarians to place the
students favorite magazines in the library. They should get
Seventeen, Horse And Rider, Zillions, American Girl, Space
Probe, Conservationist, and Bopper for the girls, and Car,
Boy's Life, Sports Weekly, 321 Contact, Video Games, S.W.A.T.
Pro, and Sports Illustrated for the boys. It will motivate
children to read in the library.
TITLE: Do Sixth Grade Students Like To Read?
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Ricky Hill
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: John I. Swang, Ph.D.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
I wanted to find out whether sixth grade students at Mandeville
Middle School like to read or play video games. My first
hypothesis stated that girls would prefer reading more than
boys. My second hypothesis stated that boys would prefer
playing video games more than girls.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, I wrote a statement of purpose. After that I conducted
a review of literature and wrote my hypothesis. Next, I
developed a questionnaire to administer to twelve sixth grade
students at Mandeville Middle School. When I got them back I
scored them and analyzed my data with charts and graphs. Next,
I accepted or rejected my hypothesis. Then I wrote a summary
and conclusion. Finally, I applied my findings to the world
outside my classroom and published an abstract.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
I sent out twelve questionnaires and eleven of them were
returned. Seven boys and four girls responded to the
questionnaires. For the boys, a majority of six liked playing
video games more than reading. They average forty-eight
minutes a week reading books and seventy-seven minutes a week
playing video games. For the girls, two liked reading, one
liked playing video games, and one of them didn't like either.
They averaged sixty-six minutes reading books a week and thirty
minutes a week playing video games. The data clearly showed
that girls like reading more than boys and boys like playing
video games more than girls.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
I found out that girls like reading more than boys. Therefore,
I accepted my first hypothesis which stated that girls like
reading more than boys. I also found out that boy like playing
video games more than girls. Therefore, I accepted my second
hypothesis which stated that boys would prefer playing video
games more than girls.
V. APPLICATION:
My data indicates that teachers need to pay more attention to
what attracts boys to playing video games. Hopefully, that
information could help them buy books that will meet the needs
of boys. This could then motivate boys to read more books.
© 1994 John I. Swang, Ph.D.