Maintaining Positive Health And Wellness Through Illness Reduction

Question: Discuss about the Maintaining Positive Health And Wellness Through Illness Reduction? Answer: The high prevalence of diseases and illnesses has negatively impacted the society both clinically and economically. Evidence of increase in cases of cancer, heart failure, multiple organ dysfunctioning, swine flu, premature aging, etc. have shown that focus needs to shift from conventional treatment procedure to the elucidation of skills and techniques to support good health practices. Health and wellness promotion not just paves the way for minimizing illnesses but increases the wellbeing of a community, country and eventually the whole globe. Along with an individual, the role of entire society and healthcare providers is crucial in making a community healthy. In the current scenario, most of the illnesses and health related issues are owed to unhealthy practices in society such as neglecting patients with a particular disease, especially communicable and mental illnesses, and economically weaker sections or discrimination by race. Thus, it affects psychological health of a person which further causes stress and ultimately disorders. Moreover, neglecting fitness and unhealthy lifestyle add up to the health related concerns. Therefore, it has become a necessity today to educate people about individual and community health and wellness. Various strategies and models are being adopted by healthcare and corporate sectors to help individuals manage their health behaviors for prevention of some of the common chronic illnesses. The present essay focuses on maintaining an individuals physical, mental and social health and how it results in an overall well-being with the achievement of health-related goals. Background As per the definition provided by WHO (World Health Organization), the state of being healthy is not just an absence of disease, but the overall physical, social and psychological wellbeing of a person. Whereas regardless of the current state of health, wellness is the condition in which a person delivers his/her maximum potential possible in given environmental conditions. Illness is a state of health which might not be related directly to the presence of a disease but a feeling of being sick or any lesion or disorder that affects a persons physical and mental wellbeing, and hence being healthy or ill revolves around their personal satisfaction. There are various determinants including income and social status, personal health practices, biology, gender, culture and physical environment contributing to the social, biological and psychological health of an individual. Biological variables such as the genetic makeup, age, sex, and ethnicity are some of the major deciders of health and severity of a disorder, and hence affect the biological perspective of health (Health, Wellness and illness 2008). Majorly, health is perceived by biological conditions only and not taking into account the lifestyle factors such as smoking or alcohol use, for example, older persons are considered unhealthy in spite of lacking any symptoms for a disease. Although most of diseases including heart and neurological problems are common in older groups while onset of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer are dependent on the gender, but perceiving health in that context only can be a false interpretation (Mishra, Yadav Rani 2015). Additionally, societal perspective is the responsibility that a community plays with regard to a disease or illness, by providing care, support, empathy, concern, and encouragement to the patients. It depends on how a community responses to a prevailing illness and helps in getting rid of that. The societal perspective, especially in the case of mental illnesse s or chronic transmissible diseases, hugely affects the healthcare system. Hence, the behavior of a community having detrimental effects on health should be changed. Furthermore, the psychological perspective is majorly about how an individual perceives about his/her health, and therefore it varies from the risk and control associated with the patient. A persons concept of health affects their health outcomes, wherein those with a positive outlook for their treatment recover faster as compared to the one with pessimistic attitude (Murdoch 2014). Together these three perspectives (biological, societal and psychological) help in measuring health risk and severity of an illness. Promoting wellness in health and illness. Health promotion requires an extended support from the community in addition to the healthcare providers, nurses, and individuals themselves. There is a need for bringing about a change in the positive direction in health determinants by enhancing health-related skills of individuals and communities. Health and wellness are two very closely related terms, with the former being a resource of the latter one. A healthy person is more capable of maximizing their potential and fulfilling their expectations, making wellness a subjective measure of being healthy (Byock 2009; Travis Ryan 2004). On the other hand, for promoting health and wellness, it is necessary to have a sound and healthy community by efficient public health management system. In diseases like AIDS, societal perspective is still backward in most of the countries, wherein the patients are isolated and looked down upon by the society, nave about the disease. Being a life threatening disease with seldom any good treatment in the developing countries, it requires support from people around for the patient to have strength to fight the disease back for their life, but due to the abandonment by their society they remain deprived of the care and treatment that they deserve. Hence, strategies for enhancing interpersonal and situational influences through community interactions and education are incorporated in the health promotion models (Compton 2005). From the biological perspective of health, women especially those above 50, are more prone to breast cancer as compared to males. Hence, following health promotion models women above 50 can be recommended and encouraged to undergo mammography and regular checkups so as to prevent and detect cancer in early stages. Moreover, as a primary prevention, younger women can also be suggested to change their lifestyles such as the habit of smoking, drinking, use of oral contraceptives or obesity (Mishra et al. 2015). Workplace wellness programs and school health services in addition to community health camps are commonly adopted by companies, institutes, and community services respectively for improving health and wellbeing of a population. In enhancing health promotion, client-centered health and wellness coaching are being provided to individuals and groups for achieving self-determined fitness goals. Studies show the positive impact of these coaching in treatment outcomes of persons with diabetes, heart problems, cancer or obesity (Wolever et al. 2013; Becker McPeck 2013). Health theories and models. Various theories and models help explaining and promoting the phenomena of health, wellness and illness. The essay discusses some of these theories that further explain the concept from the social and psychological point of view. Travis illness-wellness continuum. This theory explains the relation of illness and wellness with an arrow, where wellness and illness are two opposite ends of the continuum, separated by several stages of health, from good health to death. While going from right to left in the continuum, a person moves from being healthy as a result of proper awareness and education of individuals and communities to a progressively decreasing health with increasing signs of illness and further disability. Placement of persons in the continuum also depends on how they and their community perceive them. Nurses play a major role in maintaining the continuum in positive side by educating and training individuals and communities about specific health related issues. For example, persons with hypertension having smoking and drinking habits, can move towards the negative side however by changing their lifestyle and quitting smoking and drinking, losing weight, performing yoga and exercises they can achieve complete health and wellness (Butterworth, Linden McClay 2007). Thus, with educating the community, nurses and coaches impact the society in a positive way. Dunns high-level wellness and grid model. With the application of X- and Y-axis, this model has four quadrants illustrating the potential maximization of an individual in an environment where they are functioning for the achievement of high-level wellness (Dunn 1959). It focuses on how a person participates and performs in a constantly changing environment. Each quadrant illustrates the following: Quadrant 1: High-level of wellness in a favorable environment. Quadrant 2: Poor health in a favorable environment. Quadrant 3: Poor health in an unfavorable environment. Quadrant 4: High-level wellness in an unfavorable environment. Health Belief Model by Rosenstock: The model depends on the psychological perception of a person i.e. how positive, negative or motivated the patient is for their recovery. Studies on mental health show that positive illusions about ones life are beneficial for mental health. However, those with realistic views and not confident about their health and treatment worsen their mental health (Taylor Brown 1988). Additionally, in the stages of clinical trials of any drug have volunteers divided into groups, where the control group uses a placebo and the other group is provided with the innovator compound, but none of the groups is disclosed what they are administered. The reason behind these blindfolded studies is the perception of patients, which can alter the results. Though on placebos, in most of the clinical studies patients in control group show positive outcome as a consequence of their perceived benefits and in contrast to this, patients with perceived susceptibility and seriousn ess show negative results in the treatment group (Miller kaptchuk 2004). Conclusion. The busy life of people has left little time for personal care, which is showing its consequence on their health and wellness. There is a thin line between wellness and illness and continued negligence of health with the adoption of unhealthy lifestyle shifts the determinants of health to the negative direction. Hence, health promotion strategies and models have become indispensable for the betterment of individuals and community. Focus now needs to be shifted from conventional treatment procedures to client-centered health promotion, involving the whole community. Awareness among people about their health, with encouragement for those above 40 to have regular checkups will thus help in overcoming negligence. Health and wellness coaching, emerging these days, are working to educate people about common health related issues, healthy practices, and lifestyle that can help build an efficient community to prosper success and growth. References Becker, C, and McPeck, W 2013, Creating positive health: its more than risk reduction, National wellness institute, viewed 30 December 2015, https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.nationalwellness.org/resource/resmgr/WhitePapers/NWIWhitePaper_BeckerMcPeck20.pdf Butterworth, S, Linden, A, and McClay, W 2007,Health coaching as an intervention in health management programs, Disease management and health outcomes, 15(5), 299307. Byock, I 2009, Suffering and wellness,Journal of Palliative Medicine, 12(9), 785787. Compton, W, C 2005, Introduction to positive psychology, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Dunn, H, L 1959, High-level wellness for man and society, American journal of public health and nations health, 49(6), 786792. www.scribd.com 2008, Health, wellness and illness, viewed 30 December 2015, https://www.scribd.com/doc/3573731/Health-Wellness-and-Illness#scribd. Miller, F, G andKaptchuk,T, J 2004, Sham procedures and the ethics of clinical trials, Journal of royal society of medicine, 97(12), 576578. Mishra, S, Yadav, T, and Rani, V 2015, Exploring miRNA based approaches in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, Critical reviews in oncology/hematology, S1040-8428(15). doi: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2015.10.003 Murdoch, N, H 2014, Health, wellness and illness, ResearchGate, viewed 31 December 2015, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262766886_Health_wellness_and_illness?enrichId=rgreq-cb6c327a-2c24-4d9d-89a2-efa52cd7db0aenrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI2Mjc2Njg4NjtBUzoxOTg0Mjg2ODk3MzU2ODFAMTQyNDMyMDQ5NDM4MQ%3D%3Del=1_x_2. Taylor, S, E and Brown, J, D 1988, Illusion and well-being: a social psychological perspective on mental health, Psychological bulletin, 103(2), 193-210 Travis, J, W and Ryan, R, S 2004, The wellness workbook: How to achieve enduring health and vitality (3rd ed.), New York, NY: Ten Speed Press. Wolever, R, Q,Simmons, L, A, Sforzo, G, A, Dill, D, Kaye, M, Bechard, E, M, Southard, M, E, Kennedy, M, Vosloo, J, and Yang, N 2013, A Systematic Review of the Literature on Health and Wellness Coaching: Defining a Key Behavioral intervention in HealthcareA Systematic Review of the Literature on Health and Wellness Coaching: Defining a Key Behavioral intervention in HealthcareA systematic review of the literature on health and wellness coaching: defining a key behavioral intervention in healthcare, Global advances in health and medicine, 2(4), 3857.

Thoughts on College Transfer Essay Samples in an Easy to Follow Order

Thoughts on College Transfer Essay Samples in an Easy to Follow Order Along with grades, extracurricular activities, and in certain instances, letters of recommendation, the personal essay is an essential part of the admission practice. To accomplish this, brainstorm on topics which you are passionate about. In your essays, you may use various approaches. To offer you a remedy on the best way to compose an impressive college essay, here are a couple hints you may wish to consider. It's very beneficial to observe how the exact top students approach the college essay, so long as their very best effort neither intimidates nor stymies you. I think that only the most suitable college can help students become superior specialists. Instead, talk about the way the school wasn't the appropriate fit for you personally. Discuss what you were unable to experience at your existing school and the way this will change at a new school. Besides having an exceptional SAT score, you would have to develop the ideal college essay. A transfer essay is a sort of papers that might be used by means of an author for transferring to a different college or university. By reading the helpful info, you can be in a position to understand how to compose a college transfer essay. There's numerous signals of a college transfer essay. In this manner, it is going to be simpler to structure the content of your essay. Although there isn't any commentary for those essays, this collection is an excellent way to find a feeling of the wide collection of essay possibilities. This area of the essay is important since this will capture your reader's interest. It is a wonderful tool, because it allows you to tell your own story in your own words. The Fight Against College Transfer Essay Samples A few of the essays even include brief commentary by admissions officers about exactly what makes them great. A well written essay can boost yo ur odds of admission. Despite exceptional grades, a poorly written essay gives you a poor name. Writing a college essay can arrive in various forms and styles based on your taste. This kind of essay typically has a minimum of 250 words. This informative article will appear at the criteria that generally makes for an amazing personal statement when giving you an enormous collection of successful essays that were accepted at a lot of different institutions. This question i very much like a prior Quora question. Try to remember that simply because you didn't fit there doesn't indicate it does not have any redeeming qualities or that someone else might locate their ideal home there. In reality, the attention of the soul is the most effective feature of the art of caring in nursing. Secondly, you are able to get your work done in a suitable manner also. Among the philosophies which are very near my heart is that I think that the wellness of an individual is all in the mind. The College Transfer Essay Samples Cover Up The truth is my college does not have any facility like that, but I want to study physics in more detail. Many renowned personalities have c ompleted this by considering college transfer a proper option. Rather than making broad statements about what you would like to do, provide certain examples from high school or extracurricular pursuits. Top College Transfer Essay Samples Choices Make your essay memorable and distinctive. Stephen's essay is quite effective. Writing an essay has to be stressful. Moreover, narrative essays are the most often encountered essays, which likewise tell a story. Don't forget to check and be sure that all transfer admission requirements are satisfied. We've got little doubt he has the abilities and intellectual curiosity to be successful at Penn, and David has made a strong argument about why this specific transfer makes plenty of sense. However difficult the transfer procedure appears to be, you've overcome it once before.

Good New Testament Research Paper Topics For The Students Of The Future

Good New Testament Research Paper Topics For The Students Of The FutureAll good writing is basically a matter of finding interesting new testament research paper topics. The new testament is the most famous section of the bible and is used to give expression to the beliefs of the church.Most Christians have more than one bible. I've often been asked why I choose to read too? It's all about good new testament research paper topics, particularly when you've got friends who are Christians who have their own various versions of the bible.They'll often invite you over for dinner and when you arrive they'll sit you down and start reading the bible aloud. You can't help but watch them with amazement. The words just seem to flow so easily for these people and it seems as though everything is a part of the story. You've got to ask yourself how they manage to follow it all.Many Christians will be content to read their bible and listen to their minister's words. They believe that what they have learned by their pastors or elders is what God intended.However, there are many Christians who simply refuse to accept what their church preachers say. They may not follow the letter of the bible as written, but they won't question why it isn't being followed. They simply decide that what they believe is the right thing to do and they don't look for reasons why.They are Christians in name only. They may refer to themselves as 'Christian' but in truth they are simply followers of the will of the crowd. They go to church every Sunday, but they're not worshipping the true God.In fact, they're often a third party that is in no position to speak for the church. In such a scenario, one has to be creative when choosing a good new testament research paper topic.A good idea would be to find someone who is close to you who is a devout Christian. Give them a piece of paper and ask them to read through the bible with you and see if anything stands out.

How Do I Add the Writing Essay to the SAT?

How Do I Add the Writing Essay to the SAT?You've been wondering how do I add the writing essay to the SAT? If you're like many of my fellow college students, you've either given up or are about to give up on the essay altogether. Most students feel that it's an essay-competition killer, and they're ready to skip it completely and make room for the more difficult core topics that are more likely to be successfully covered in the test.Before you throw in the towel and start blasting off your college essays, take a step back and reevaluate the strategies that you use to be successful. It might surprise you to learn that writing an essay is not as difficult as it seems. Yes, you can be sure that you'll have your hands full doing research and writing, but you also have some unique opportunities to get some additional help and create memorable topics to help you make sure you meet the requirements for the test.The first thing you should consider when you're thinking about how do I add the writing essay to the SAT is whether or not you need help. If you're unsure, you may want to see if the tutoring center you sign up with provides essay-writing services for students who are struggling. These tutors will give you practice essays so that you can figure out whether or not you can manage to come up with something effective. Of course, you don't want to cut any corners and still turn in a mediocre essay, so you'll want to find a way to learn from the experience.Another thing you can do to make sure that you've made the most of your SAT prep time is to consider studying with a friend or two. Many people don't realize that the SAT has several different sections that are more difficult than others. There are some subtleties that are pretty easy to lose sight of, and sometimes when you get used to the specifics of a section, you don't even pay attention to what's going on around you. Taking a group of students who are trying to figure out the SAT can make sure that you stay o n task and make sure that you've learned the subjects for all four sections.If you're still in doubt about how do I add the writing essay to the SAT, you might want to consider finding a book that focuses on essays specifically. The Writers at Work: A Guide to Writing an Essay is a well-written book that has been written by some of the greatest essayists in history. It includes strategies for writing a good essay and discussing it in class, but you'll also find that it has valuable advice about how to write an essay for the SAT as well.The best thing you can do if you're interested in how do I add the writing essay to the SAT is to make sure that you're doing enough practice testing. The more you do these tests, the better you'll become at figuring out the test material and the format. Plus, there's nothing worse than having a test that you weren't prepared for, so be sure to get enough practice in before you try to tackle the real test.The one last thing you need to keep in mind if you're struggling with how do I add the writing essay to the SAT is that you're not alone. Writing for the SAT is one of the hardest tests that many students have ever taken, and many feel overwhelmed and can't seem to figure out how to prepare for it. If you're truly determined to get through this, make sure that you don't let anything stop you, and start now to plan how you're going to excel on the SAT.

Best Bandi IELTS Essay Samples For Students

Best Bandi IELTS Essay Samples For StudentsBandi IELTS essays are among the best IELTS essay samples for students who want to write an essay that can be accepted in most IELTS colleges. You will not be able to find a better essay samples because they are able to demonstrate how to write an excellent essay in their essays.You will not be able to find a better bandi IELTS essay samples than this. If you want to improve your writing skills, you should start learning from these. With their help, you will be able to learn techniques that will let you write better essays. Here are some of the helpful tips:You should make use of bandi IELTS essay samples when you are writing IELTS exams. This is because the IELTS exam is a test of your creativity, your critical thinking skills, and your writing skills.When you are writing an essay with bandi IELTS essay samples, you need to use only keywords. In other words, don't use words that have multiple meanings. The words you use should only have one meaning or have a single meaning and be a keyword.The next tip is also related to grammar. In and IELTS essay samples, you must not write in English grammar that you learned from books.Remember, you are learning how to use proper grammar when you use and IELTS essay samples. So, you must use English grammar from textbooks when you are using bandi IELTS essay samples.The bandi IELTS essay samples for bandi IELTS essays are available for free online. You can read more tips from bandi IELTS essays in the following links:

Self-Disclosure in Relationships free essay sample

Disclosure 1 Self-Disclosure in Relationships We as individuals’ decide what, when and to whom, and how much to disclose personal thoughts and feelings. Although level of self-disclosure and personal relationships are not synonymous concepts, self-disclosure plays an important role in constructing what kind of relationships individuals have with each another. 1 Self-disclosure, depending on reactions of relationship partners, also plays an important role in validating self-worth and personal identity. 2 The best place to begin is with a definition. Self-disclosure is the process of deliberately revealing information about oneself that is significant and would not naturally be known by others. Self-disclosure must be deliberate. One way by which we judge the strength of our relationships is the amount of information we share with other. Opening up certainly is important; one ingredient in qualitatively interpersonal relationships is disclosure. Competent communicators use self-disclosure selectively. They make choices about disclosing information judiciously, with awareness of the positive and negative consequences of doing so. We will write a custom essay sample on Self-Disclosure in Relationships or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They may weigh the impact that disclosing information might have on the growth and well-being of a relationship. In addition, they may consider how learning personal information about themselves may affect another person, especially in light of that person’s receptivity and trustworthiness to respond well to what has been disclosed. Self- Disclosure 2 One of the main reasons we engage in self-disclosure is because of how it affects other people’s perceptions of us, and indeed, our perceptions of other people. We want others to like us so we tell them our secrets. Does this really work or is it just a fantasy that we have and try to make come true. The historical background to self-disclosure research, definitions of self-disclosures, disclosure trajectories, reasons for and against disclosure, disclosure as a transactional process, disclosure message enactment , health consequences of disclosure, methodological trends in disclosure research, and opportunities for future research. 3 Although our definition of self-disclosure is helpful, it doesn’t reveal the important fact that not all self-disclosure is equally revealing-that some disclosing messages tell more about us than others. By this, they mean that self-disclosing and learning about others is the process of penetrating deeper into the selves of those people-and enabling others to penetrate ourselves and gain a deeper understanding of us. This process of penetration is a gradual one, in which each communicator reveals layers of personal depth. Social psychologists Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor describe two ways in which communication can be more or less disclosing. 4 Altman and Taylor use the metaphor of an onion and its layers of rings. Disclosure begins on the outer layer and proceeds to the core of the onion. Their social penetration model is referred to as the first dimension of self-disclosure is breadth of information volunteered-the range of subjects being discussed. This layer is largely Self-Disclosure 3 made up of superficial information about ourselves that we commonly share with a number of different people. 5 The second dimension of self-disclosure is the depth of information volunteered the shift from relatively impersonal messages to more personal ones. 6 Depending on the breadth and depth of information shared; a relationship can be casual or intimate. In a causal relationship the breadth may be great, but not the depth. Later, in a relationship, communicators gradually share depth of information. Again, using the onion metaphor, these are the inner layers of the onion. The depth level is more significant and more central to whom we are. Sometimes, it includes very strong feelings, beliefs and concerns. It may also include secrets, regrets or hurtful experiences, and painful memories. Information from the depth of dimension, which is more private and significant, will likely be exchanged later in a relationship. There are four levels of communication that suggest why relationships can be frustrating. Sometimes the communicators might never get to the levels of personal opinions and feelings. At other times communicators can spend too much time at these personal levels. These levels are as follows: Cliches: Cliches are ritualized, stock responses to social situations-virtually the opposite of disclosure. Although they sound superficial, cliches can also serve as codes for messages we don’t usually express directly, such as â€Å"I want to acknowledge your presence† accompanied by Self –Disclosure 4 different set of nonverbal cues, a cliche can say â€Å"I don’t want to be impolite, but you’d better stay away from me now. † Whatever valuable functions they may serve, it’s clear that cliches don’t qualify as self-disclosure. Facts: Not all facts qualify as self-disclosure. They must fit the criteria of being intentional, significant, and n ot otherwise known. Facts can be meaningful in themselves, but they also have a greater significance in a relationship. Disclosing important information suggests a level of trust and commitment to the other person that signals a desire to move the relationship to a new level. Opinions: Still more revealing is the level of opinions. Opinions usually reveal more about a person than facts alone. If you know where the speaker stands on a subject, you can get a clearer picture of how your relationship might develop. Likewise, every time you offer a personal opinion, you are giving others information about yourself. Feelings: This is the fourth level of self-disclosure-and usually the most revealing one-is the realm of feelings. At first glance, feelings might appear to be the same as opinions, but there is a difference. Self-Disclosure 5

Example of Two Sample T Test and Confidence Interval

Example of Two Sample T Test and Confidence Interval Sometimes in statistics, it is helpful to see worked out examples of problems.   These examples can help us in figuring out similar problems.   In this article, we will walk through the process of conducting inferential statistics for a result concerning two population means. Not only will we see how to conduct a hypothesis test about the difference of two population means, we will also construct a confidence interval for this difference.   The methods that we use are sometimes called a two sample t test and a two sample t confidence interval. The Statement of the Problem Suppose we wish to test the mathematical aptitude of grade school children.   One question that we may have is if higher grade levels have higher mean test scores. A simple random sample of 27 third graders is given a math test, their answers are scored, and the results are found to have a mean score of 75 points with a sample standard deviation of 3 points. A simple random sample of 20 fifth graders is given the same math test and their answers are scored. The mean score for the fifth graders is 84 points with a sample standard deviation of 5 points. Given this scenario we ask the following questions: Does the sample data provide us with evidence that the mean test score of the population of all fifth graders exceeds the mean test score of the population of all third graders?What is a 95% confidence interval for the difference in mean test scores between the populations of third graders and fifth graders? Conditions and Procedure We must select which procedure to use. In doing this we must make sure and check that conditions for this procedure have been met. We are asked to compare two population means. One collection of methods that can be used to do this are those for two-sample t-procedures. In order to use these t-procedures for two samples, we need to make sure that the following conditions hold: We have two simple random samples from the two populations of interest.Our simple random samples do not constitute more than 5% of the population.The two samples are independent of one another, and there is no matching between the subjects.The variable is normally distributed.Both the population mean and standard deviation are unknown for both of the populations. We see that most of these conditions are met.   We were told that we have simple random samples.   The populations that we are studying are large as there are millions of students in these grade levels. The condition that we are unable to automatically assume is if the test scores are normally distributed. Since we have a large enough sample size, by the robustness of our t-procedures we do not necessarily need the variable to be normally distributed. Since the conditions are satisfied, we perform a couple of preliminary calculations. Standard Error The standard error is an estimate of a standard deviation. For this statistic, we add the sample variance of the samples and then take the square root. This gives the formula: (s1 2 / n1 s22 / n2)1/2 By using the values above, we see that the value of the standard error is (32 / 27 52 / 20)1/2 (1 / 3 5 / 4 )1/2 1.2583 Degrees of Freedom We can use the conservative approximation for our degrees of freedom. This may underestimate the number of degrees of freedom, but it is much easier to calculate than using Welchs formula. We use the smaller of the two sample sizes, and then subtract one from this number. For our example, the smaller of the two samples is 20. This means that the number of degrees of freedom is 20 - 1 19. Hypothesis Test We wish to test the hypothesis that fifth-grade students have a mean test score that is greater than the mean score of third-grade students. Let ÃŽ ¼1 be the mean score of the population of all fifth graders. Similarly, we let ÃŽ ¼2 be the mean score of the population of all third graders. The hypotheses are as follows: H0: ÃŽ ¼1 - ÃŽ ¼2 0Ha: ÃŽ ¼1 - ÃŽ ¼2 0 The test statistic is the difference between the sample means, which is then divided by the standard error. Since we are using sample standard deviations to estimate the population standard deviation, the test statistic from the t-distribution. The value of the test statistic is (84 - 75)/1.2583. This is approximately 7.15. We now determine what the p-value is for this hypothesis test. We look at the value of the test statistic, and where this is located on a t-distribution with 19 degrees of freedom. For this distribution, we have 4.2 x 10-7 as our p-value. (One way to determine this is to use the T.DIST.RT function in Excel.) Since we have such a small p-value, we reject the null hypothesis. The conclusion is that the mean test score for fifth graders is higher than the mean test score for third graders. Confidence Interval Since we have established that there is a difference between the mean scores, we now determine a confidence interval for the difference between these two means. We already have much of what we need. The confidence interval for the difference needs to have both an estimate and a margin of error. The estimate for the difference of two means is straightforward to calculate. We simply find the difference of the sample means. This difference of the sample means estimates the difference of the population means. For our data, the difference in sample means is 84 – 75 9. The margin of error is slightly more difficult to compute. For this, we need to multiply the appropriate statistic by the standard error. The statistic that we need is found by consulting a table or statistical software. Again using the conservative approximation, we have 19 degrees of freedom. For a 95% confidence interval we see that t* 2.09. We could use the T.INV function in Excel to calculate this value. We now put everything together and see that our margin of error is 2.09 x 1.2583, which is approximately 2.63. The confidence interval is 9  Ã‚ ± 2.63. The interval is 6.37 to 11.63 points on the test that the fifth and third graders chose.