1. **Stating the problem:** We want to perform an inferential statistical study to understand how students cope with stress based on the given bar graph data.
2. **Data summary:** The data shows frequencies and percentages of students using different coping mechanisms out of a total of 112 responses:
- Exercising: 28 (25%)
- Talking with family/friends: 17 (15%)
- Listing out/journaling: 28 (25%)
- Seeking professional help: 2 (2%)
- Going out: 10 (9%)
- Playing games/Watching YouTube: 17 (15%)
- Others: 13 (12%)
3. **Objective:** We want to test if the coping mechanisms are equally preferred by students or if some are significantly more common.
4. **Hypotheses:**
- Null hypothesis $H_0$: All coping mechanisms are equally preferred, i.e., the proportions are equal.
- Alternative hypothesis $H_a$: At least one coping mechanism has a different preference proportion.
5. **Test used:** Chi-square goodness-of-fit test.
6. **Expected frequencies:** If all 7 categories were equally preferred, expected frequency per category is $$E = \frac{112}{7} = 16$$.
7. **Calculate chi-square statistic:**
$$\chi^2 = \sum \frac{(O_i - E_i)^2}{E_i}$$
where $O_i$ is observed frequency and $E_i$ is expected frequency.
Calculate each term:
- Exercising: $\frac{(28-16)^2}{16} = \frac{144}{16} = 9$
- Talking: $\frac{(17-16)^2}{16} = \frac{1}{16} = 0.0625$
- Listing out: $\frac{(28-16)^2}{16} = 9$
- Seeking help: $\frac{(2-16)^2}{16} = \frac{196}{16} = 12.25$
- Going out: $\frac{(10-16)^2}{16} = \frac{36}{16} = 2.25$
- Playing games: $\frac{(17-16)^2}{16} = 0.0625$
- Others: $\frac{(13-16)^2}{16} = \frac{9}{16} = 0.5625$
Sum:
$$\chi^2 = 9 + 0.0625 + 9 + 12.25 + 2.25 + 0.0625 + 0.5625 = 33.1875$$
8. **Degrees of freedom:** $df = k - 1 = 7 - 1 = 6$
9. **Decision rule:** Using chi-square distribution table, critical value for $\alpha=0.05$ and $df=6$ is approximately 12.592.
10. **Conclusion:** Since $33.1875 > 12.592$, we reject the null hypothesis.
**Interpretation:** There is significant evidence that students do not equally prefer all coping mechanisms; some are more commonly used than others.
This inferential study helps us understand the distribution of coping strategies among students and guides where support or resources might be focused.
Inferential Coping 739045
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