Module 5 Practice 2 – Partial Correlations
RESEARCH QUESTION:
Is there a significant relationship between online university’s students’ send of isolation and perceived
learning, after controlling for students’ perception of teaching presence?
NULL HYPOTHESIS:
There is no significant relationship between online university’s students’ send of isolation and perceived
learning, after controlling for students’ perception of teaching presence.
ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS:
There is a significant relationship between online university’s students’ send of isolation and perceived
learning, after controlling for students’ perception of teaching presence.
CONTINUOUS VARIABLES:
Sense of Isolation
Percieved Learning
CONTINUOUS COVARIATE:
Teaching Presence
Since we have two continuous variables, and want to statistically control another variable, the PAIRED
SAMPLE T-TEST is the appropriate tool for conducting a partial correlation.
OPEN SPSS and Data Set
Analyze – Correlation – Partial
Select variables and move accordingly. In options, select means and SD, AND zero order correlation –
usually exclude cases pairwise, but in this case, exclude cases listwise. OK – Then ensure two-tailed and
actual significance
CHECK Descriptive Statistics and note. . .
Note Correlations box –
Top part is control
Bottom part controlled
Assess significance level (.000) Since this is less that alpha set, p<.01
Assess direction and strength of relationship between the variables and compare the two sets of
correlation
The correlation between sense of isolation and perceived learning, while controlling for perception of
teaching presence, r = -55 (a strong negative relationship). The zero order correlation between sense of
isolation and perceived learning, r = -.58 (a strong negative relationship)
Partial correlation was used to evaluate the null hypothesis that there is no significant relationship
between online university’s students’ send of isolation and perceived learning, after controlling for
students’ perception of teaching presence (n = 423). Preliminary analyses using a scatter plot were
performed to ensure no violations of the assumptions of linearity, bivariate normality, and
homoscedasticity; assumptions were found tenable. There was significant evidence to reject the
null hypothesis and conclude that there was a strong, negative, partial correlation between sense
of isolation (M = 26.74, SD = 5.85) and perceived learning (M = 60.56, SD = 12.00), while controlling
for perception of teaching presence (M = 5.30, SD = 2.02), r = -.55, p <.01. Lower levels of isolation
are associated with higher levels of perceived learning. Results of the zero order correlation
yielded that there was strong, negative correlation between sense of isolation and perceived
learning, r = -.58, thus; indicating that controlling for perception of teaching presence had very little
effect on the strength of the relationship between the two variables.