A doctor conducted research into the influence of consumption of coffee (measured in cups consumed) and social media (measured in minutes daily spent on social media) on students' academic performance (measured by an end of term test score). She reported the following: Coffee (centred), b = 0.190, t = 3.23, p = 0.015. How would you interpret her findings?
A) At the mean value of social media usage there is a significant negative relationship between coffee consumed and test score.
B) At the mean value of social media usage there is a significant positive relationship between coffee consumed and test score.
C) At the mean value of social media usage there is no relationship between coffee consumed and test score.
D) At the mean value of social media usage there is a significant relationship between coffee consumed and test score.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The positive beta coefficient (b = 0.190) suggests that as the amount of coffee consumed increases, so does the test score. The t-value of 3.23 indicates that the relationship is statistically significant, and the p-value of 0.015 suggests that this relationship is unlikely to have occurred by chance. However, note that this interpretation only applies at the mean value of social media usage, and does not consider other possible factors that may also influence academic performance.

A Doctor Conducted Research into the Influence of Consumption of Coffee