Student’s Name: Wonsuk Kim
Student ID#:
Teacher : Elmer Kang
Due Date: 12 July 2012
Word Count: 1081

Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 1
1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................................. 1
2. Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1
3. Results ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
4. Discussion .................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Appendix ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Reference List ................................................................................................................................................................................ 5

GAC013 AE1 Wonsuk Kim (No Student ID#)
This scientific report investigates whether there are ability differences in estimating measurements between genders. The hypothesis is females are better in estimating measurements. The experiment was done with ten males and females. There were three different kinds of experiments covering the ability to estimate length, area, and weight. The results showed that females did better on all three experiments. However, because these experiments were done on a very small number of respondents, the validity of the results is questionable.
Men and women are psychologically different in many aspects because of the differences in certain features of their brains. Among the differences is the difference of estimating measurements. The purpose of this experiment is to know whether there is difference at estimating among genders. The hypothesis is females are better than males at accurately estimating length, weight, and area.
Three methods were used to test the estimating abilities of twenty respondents. The respondents were comprised of ten males and females. The three methods showed the difference in estimating among genders in a variety of areas. Those three methods cover each experiment on length, area, and weight.
The experiment on length was done by showing the respondents two sticks, one being small and the other one being six times longer than the small one. Then, the respondents guess how many small sticks can add up to make the length of the long stick. The difference of the number of sticks from the answer was recorded. If the respondents chose six sticks as the answer, he or she got zero for the difference from the answer. The same was done with area, which asked respondents to guess the amount of small rectangles that can fit into the big square. Then, the difference of the number of rectangles from the answer was recorded. If the subject chose fifty rectangles as the answer, he or she got it correct. For the last experiment on weight, each respondent hold one of the five bottles in a bag.
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GAC013 AE1 Wonsuk Kim (No Student ID#)
Those five bottles contain different amount of water. With their eyes closed they were asked to remember what they held. After that, the five bottles were taken out of the bag. Finally, the respondents were told to select from the five bottles what they thought they held before. The difference of weight between the bottle that was chosen in the bag and the bottle chosen outside of the bag was recorded. If the same bottle was chosen, the weight difference was recorded as zero.
According to the results, it was generally identified that females were better at estimating measurements than males on all three methods. For the experiment on length, the average length difference with the answer for females was three mm, whereas, the average for males was 5.4mm.
Then, for the experiment on area, the average difference of rectangles from the answer for females was 8.7 rectangles, whereas, the result for males was 9.1 rectangles. For the last experiment about weight, the average difference from the answer for females was four mg, whereas, it was five mg for males. Another notable fact was t there were more correct answers for females than males. Thirteen out of thirty results for females were correct, however, ten out of thirty results for males were correct.
Female1
Female2
Female3
Female4
Female5
Female6
Female7
Female8
Female9
Female10
Average
Difference from answer
Weight(mg) Length(mm) Area(rectangles)
20
0
6
3
0
18
10
0
0
0
3
0
10
16
18
0
10
0
0
0
4
6
0
3
6
3
3
10
5
10
0
0
8.7
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GAC013 AE1 Wonsuk Kim (No Student ID#)
Male1
Male2
Male3
Male4
Male5
Male6
Male7
Male8
Male9
Male10
Average
Difference from answer
Weight(mg) Length(mm) Area(rectangles)
10
20
10
6
12
3
41
10
9
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
0
9
3
6
6
6
3
5.4
12
4
10
0
0
5
0
9.1
The experiment confirms the hypothesis that females are better at accurately estimating length, area and weight than males. The hypothesis was made due to an assumption that females are better at connecting information inside their brains. According to Zaidi from King Saud University, females have more white matter than males in their brain. The white matter is in charge of communication between different parts of the brain. If the communication between different parts of the brain were better, analyzing data would be done in a more efficient way. The results of the experiment hailed females as being better at estimating the three categories.
However, according to Leeson from the Southern Cross University, no significant results were found in the difference of estimating measurements between males and females by testing on young students. According to all t the experiment done, he noticed that girls only did poorly than boys when they had a competition like atmosphere. This is when the students were given multiple choice questions or when they were pressured by time. However, excluding those situations, no difference was found. Even the strategies used by both genders were similar.
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GAC013 AE1 Wonsuk Kim (No Student ID#)
The result that Leeson got was very different from the result of this experiment. Leeson did an experiment on 84 to 244 students which gives a significant difference from the number of respondents that the experiment done. Meanwhile, this report had only twenty respondents, which is very few.
Moreover, the experiment done on areas with rectangles had one male respondent who did very poorly on estimating compared to other respondents. Excluding the result by this one male respondent, males did much better on estimating area than females, having only five errors as the difference between the answer while women had an average of 8.7. So, no actual significance between the genders in estimating found. That is because female respondents did better in length and weight, but male respondents excluding one person did better on area, making it hard to determine a notable result.
The effectiveness of this research is far from being notable. The main reason is its lack of respondents.
It didn’t have much effect on any other special information. To emphasize, even though the experiment confirmed the hypothesis, it is not reliable due to the number of respondents.
To summarize, the experiment supported the hypothesis. The result showed females are better at estimating than males. If there were a difference in estimating skills between males and females, it could have been used for further studies on the difference of brains among genders. If the result attributed is valid, there are some parts of the female brain that is bigger or more efficient than male. However, according to Leeson’s research, it seems that there might not be much further studies to figure out the difference in estimating skills between females and males.
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GAC013 AE1 Wonsuk Kim
4
Females Males
8,7
9,1
5
5,4
3
(No Student ID#)
Weight(mg)
Length(mm) Area(rectangles)
Leeson, Neville. “Investigation of Gender Differences Among Year 6 Students when Estimating
Measurements.” Southern Cross University . Southern Cross University, (n.d.). Web. 4 July 2012
Zaidi, Zeenat F. “Gender Differences in Human Brain: A Review.” The Open Anatomy Journal .
Volume 2. (2010): p.37-55. Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University,
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Web. 4 July 2012.
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