Instruction
Can a human be best friends with a
dog?
Ever had a best friend that barked, has four legs, and won’t stop wagging their tail. Having a dog is great not only physically but mentally
too. Dog are willing to always love and show loyalty, image coming home from a long day of work and your dog is home waiting for you.
Your dog doesn’t care if you had a bad day at work all he wants is you and your love. Dogs are forgiving, loyal, friendly and those are
qualities that must humans leak of, but dogs don’t. A dog can always be shaped to the life style you might live in. Ever wonder can a dog
really be a man’s best friend. I started to wonder if man is capable of having a better relationship with their dog rather than humans. I wanted
to know what makes a dog and man’s relationship so special that humans devote their time to.
My research will focus on collection date from both females and males based on the relationship they have with their dog. I will be comparing
and analyzing answers to both genders. My survey questions will be based on the time they spend with their dog which will help me support
my hypothesis. I hypothesized that man will have a strong bond with their dog compared to females. For example, the article “why are dogs
called man’s best friend” talked about how dogs attention and affection make an impact with their bond. I have a dog myself and I see and feel
all the love and affecting he gives me.
Methods
Participants
I recruited my classmates from my Psychology 074 class and the survey consisted of 15 questions. I had a total of 24 classmates
participants 16 females (66.67%) and 8 males (33.33%) completed my survey. From all those 24 participants 16.67 % are ages 17-20, 45.83%
are ages 21-25, 20.83 are ages 26-31, 8.33% are ages 32-40 or older. Those participants were recruited through my psychology class of
Research meth in Behaver. The survey was an online survey which is why I used survey monkey to conduct my research. I used the free
version of survey monkey which allowed me to ask my participants 10 various questions. Since I was only able to ask ten questions I
wanted them to be straight to the point and short. My sampling methods were gender and connection with pets because I wanted to see if
males or females have a strong bond with their dog. The only requirement that I had was for my participants to own/have owned a dog
because I wanted feedback on their relationship. Although not all participants were compensated but some of my class participants did
receive points for completing my survey.
Results
The data collected from the research survey indicated that I will reject the null because its greater than alpha. A Chi square test was
conducted demonstrating that there is no relationship between gender and the closeness one feel with his or her pet. 𝜒2(3, n=25) =
7.665, P>.05
75.0% likelihood > 20% P= .053 because I have a result that violates the assumption by greater than 20% I will use the P value=
.053 associated with the likelihood ratio. The P value is greater than .05 but only slightly. All 25 participants completed the 10
questions that related to how close their relationship with their pet it. The questions were also phrased very simple to understand
and read. The first 4 questions were based on demographics, the next 2 questions were based on variable 1 and 2, the other 3 were
additional information to help me determine the relationship owners have with their dog. The last question was an open box
question because I wanted my participants to tell be about their relationship with their dog. However, I think that the data
collection from question number 1,5 and 8 were the most significant. (see figures below). In chart one it shows the answers based
on what each gender answered to question 5. “how many times do you walk your dog in a day?” This shows that 7 females and 4
males walk their dog once a day, 3 females walk their dogs 3 times a day, 3 females walk their dog two times a day, and 3 females
and 5 males don’t walk their dog because they have a yard.
Chart 2 showed the answers based on what each gender answered to question 8. “How many times do you take your dog out of the
house? Example the beach, dog park, hiking etc.?” This shows that 12 females and 5 males take out their dog 1-2 times a week, 1
female and 2 males take their dog out 3-4 times a week, 2 females and 1 male take their dog out less than once a week and I male
does it every 5-6 times a week. With this in mind I was able to determine that females are more connection with their dog because
of the amount of time they spend with their dog. Remember this answer can change according to participant and ground study.
Design and Materials
The design that I used for my survey was experimental because I wanted to know the type of bond humans have with their dogs. In my
study design I wanted to do it simple and to the point. Out of the 10 questions I put 9 as multiple choose though the last question I wanted
the participants more involved, so I asked them to describe their relationship with their dog. This was also I chance for them to give any
extra comments. I used questions because I wanted to gain more information about the bond dog and owner have.
I didn’t use a lot of special tools throughout my survey, most of the questions are multiple choice. I decided to do multiple choice because
it’s going to be simpler when comparing answers to each other. My survey has 10 different questions and the way you complete the scale is
by answering the questions. How I’ll be scoring the scale is by comparing the answers with each gender and see how much time they spend
together and activities they do together. For example, one of the questions was asking the participants the type of activities you take your
dog on and how many times a week. I want to know how active you and your dog are and how that plays out in the relationship between
them. I want to know if males and females are doing something different to have a stronger bond.
Procedure: Data Analytic Strategy
Data Analytic Strategy
The statistical test that I will be using is chi square test of independence because I’ll be comparing me answers based on gender. This is
important because it will help me figure out who has a stronger bond with their dog. The software that I’ll be using is Excel because I’m a
little more familiar with the software. I also like using this software because I can put my graphs and charts along with my participants
information. The excel layout that would best fit me would be the online sales tracker because I’m able to use both charts and graphs. If I
have missing data, I’ll just keep moving forward with my answers and try to evaluate them as much as I can. Although it might affect me
with the result I just want a general answer of what gender has the strongest bond with their dog. I will be conducting Casa Analysis =
only cases which have complete data are included.
Discussion
In this survey I wanted to see if humans can be best friends with a dog. I wanted to see the relationship between human with dog
and what makes their relationship so special. I conducted a survey with 25 participants and asked 10 questions about the time they
spend together and their dog preference. My questions were based on the time they spend with their dog because the more time you
spend with them the closer the bond is. With my 25 participants my results are that gender doesn’t matter when having a dog as
your best friend. This result did not surprise me because of the participants that I had. I did not have a large number of males in my
data set. My sample was made up of 66.6% females. Perhaps if I had a greater number of males I may have a different outcome. My
P was so close to being less the 5% meaning my hypothesis would have been right. I think my results could have also been different
if I set limitations on my participants. Some limitations would have been having the same number of participants in both genders,
making my survey only for participants that have/had a dog, and being able to ask more questions. The more information I can
gather no clearer my results will be. Over all I think my survey went amazing, some of the result did shock me for example question
5 asked “how many times you walk your dog in a day” and most said once which surprised me because it’s usually 2 times’ a day
(one in the morning one at night). I’m happy with my results and all the information my participants provided.
Reference
Chavez, J. C. (2020, October 27). Can a human be best friends with a dog? Survey Monkey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2X8PSP7
Kledzik, K. (2019, December 5). Why Are Dogs Called ‘Man’s Best Friend’? The Dog People by Rover.Com. https://www.rover.com/blog/dogscalled-mans-best-friend/
My Pet. (2017, May 2). How Did Dogs Evolve to Become Man’
s Best Friend? Mypet.Com. https://www.mypet.com/basic-pet-care/dog-mans-bestfriend.aspx