pls pls pls plssss help! Simple q about limitation

[mimestra]

Hi Everyone,

I am just wondering if anyone can help me!?

I am doing a research report for uni and I am looking at whether belief in astroloogy varies between males and females. My sample size is 1,000 total participants. There are 425 females and 582 males. Is this unequal sample size a limitation?

Thus 42% are female, 58% are male. Would you briefly mention it as a limitation?

Thank you soo much!

[squareandrare]

I wouldn't call it a limitation. Your sample sizes are sufficiently large.

As long as you have more than five males that believe in astrology, 5 males that don't believe, 5 females that believe, and five females that don't believe, you should be fine.

[squareandrare]

Though you should note that your sample size is 1007, not 1000.

[mimestra]

Thank you so much! I thought the same but was in desperate need to explain WHY my study shows that stress does not vary between males and females when all other studies I have been given from my lecturer to use say it does.

I have tried coming up with a possible limitation for my study also and its really hard.
All other journals i have say that it is known that women stress more than men yet my study is saying there is no difference between males or females in terms of stress. The test was not significant.

My sample size is fine, the scale used to measure stress is the DASS and is a reliable measure and my lecturer gave me a paper on how the DASS was assessed against other measures of stress and it is more reliable....other studies used scales of stress that may not have been so realiable so could I maybe put that the discrepency in my results may be due to the possibility that other measures of stress may have been more sensitive or something?

Otherwise im just stuck with saying that i dont know why there is a discrepency in my result compared to other studies findings. would that be so bad?

[Mean Joe]

How do the age of the females compare to the males, in your study? And is it similar to these other studies?--maybe older people stresss less than younger people.

All other journals i have say that it is known that women stress more than men yet my study is saying there is no difference between males or females in terms of stress. The test was not significant.

The other journals were studying belief in astrology as well?

[mimestra]

I thought the exact same thing and I also discussed that. I did a test on variation in ages and its FAIRLY equal but there is less older people by a fair bit (50-65). so I mentioned that. BUT I mentioned this in regards to another test I did which was just on stress and belief (not looking at gender).

HOW DO I LOOK AT HOW THE AGES VARY BETWEEN GENDERS? Do I run a frequency? I have been able to run a frequency to see my ages but I dont know how to divide this amongst genders also. How do I do that in SPSS?

The other journals were also looking at belief in astrology.

One mentions that age is an issue as older people stress more, then another says younger people do. So I said that the wide age range may be an issue and prob better to look at stress within ages not as a whole.

Ive ended up saying that previous research measurements of stress may not have been as reliable as they said women suffer more from 'worries, distress, are less psychiatricall well adjusted which SEEM to be relative to stress'.

Another journal discussed that it is not just stress but relationship stress in particular that is correlated with belief in astrology and so I suggested that perhaps as marital status was not analysed in the study this may have acted as a condfounding variable.

What do you think? It is the best I could come up with

THANK YOU so much for your input