Abstract

In an attempt to increase student strengths while minimizing various weaknesses, respective levels of academia are constantly shaping teaching practices and standards. These efforts have ranged from those which pertain to physical classroom environment to those that have focused around individual teaching practices/styles. This research was conducted in an attempt to discern the implications of researcher dress on participant abilities to perform well on an achievement oriented questionnaire in the classroom. This study was based around the hypothesis that the success of individual participants completing an examination could be influenced as a result of the appearance of the researcher. This hypothesis assumes that participants will have higher levels of success in a classroom environment where the researcher is dressed formally (dress slacks / shirt and tie), while they will be more likely to achieve lower levels of success in a classroom environment where the researcher is dressed informally (jeans / t-shirt). Those who voluntarily participated were asked to complete a small 20-item questionnaire composed of ACT level math, English, reading and science based questions. They were also asked to complete a short demographic survey asking for their ethnicity, current student status, sex and whether or not they had previously completed the study. The results were then analyzed and correlated based upon the two conditions using an independent samples t-test.

Recommended Citation

Holley, Ryan (2010) "An Analysis of Classroom Environment: Researcher Dress vs. Test Performance," Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal: Vol. 1: Iss. 12, Article 7.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/psych_journals/vol1/iss12/7