Abstract
Introduction
Experiment
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References
Appendices
Credits
Feedback
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Effects of Splitting Text into Multiple Columns
Results
Raw data is available for download in the Microsoft Excel format from the Appendices page.
Charts & Graphs
The graphs above display the results of completion times collected during
the experiment. The first chart on the left shows the mean completion
times in a bar-chart format. As can be seen from that graph, the mean
completion times vary for different treatments. However, due to large
standard deviations, the results are inconclusive. The second graph shows
line-plot of mean completion times depending on the width of the window.
These graphs display mean completion times in bar-chart and line-plot formats.
The important fact to note is the magnitude of standard deviation lines on the
bar-chart plot. That fact indicates that the mean number of errors values
do not show statistically significant differences. T-test and ANOVA are
used below to test that assumption.
The plots of mean subjective satisfaction are displayed above. These plots
show some interesting results. The bar-chart shows that mean subjective
satisfaction values for three-column display are higher than those for
single-column. The line-plot also confirms that fact and shows that the
mean subjective ratings decline for the single-column display as the
width of the window increases.
T-tests
| Time to Completion | ||||||
| 600 pixels | 800 pixels | 1000 pixels | ||||
| 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | |
| Mean | 197.81 | 202.21 | 229.98 | 295.82 | 292.25 | 261.94 |
| Variance | 14109.87 | 8534.11 | 12977.01 | 40923.48 | 12316.95 | 5268.14 |
| Observations | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| t Stat | -0.17 | -1.75 | 0.83 | |||
| P(T<=t) one-tail | 0.43 | 0.06 | 0.21 | |||
| t Critical one-tail | 1.83 | 1.83 | 1.83 | |||
| Number of Errors | ||||||
| 600 pixels | 800 pixels | 1000 pixels | ||||
| 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | |
| Mean | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Variance | 3.96 | 0.49 | 0.49 | 1.57 | 1.78 | 3.79 |
| Observations | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| t Stat | 1.08 | -0.20 | -0.41 | |||
| P(T<=t) one-tail | 0.16 | 0.42 | 0.35 | |||
| t Critical one-tail | 1.83 | 1.83 | 1.83 | |||
| Subjective Rating | ||||||
| 600 pixels | 800 pixels | 1000 pixels | ||||
| 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | |
| Mean | 5.1 | 6.2 | 5 | 6.9 | 3.6 | 6.7 |
| Variance | 5.21 | 5.51 | 6.67 | 4.54 | 2.27 | 1.57 |
| Observations | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| t Stat | -0.87 | -1.85 | -4.72 | |||
| P(T<=t) one-tail | 0.20 | 0.05 | 0.00 | |||
| t Critical one-tail | 1.83 | 1.83 | 1.83 | |||
The tables above show the results of t-test analysis performed on the data. The analysis was performed using Data Analysis Toolkit in Microsoft Excel 97. The t-test analysis was performed for three different window widths (600, 800, and 1000) for every dependent variable.
ANOVA
| Time to Completion - Summary | ||||||
| 600 pixels | 800 pixels | 1000 pixels | ||||
| 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | |
| Count | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Sum | 1978.1 | 2022.1 | 2299.8 | 2958.2 | 2922.5 | 2619.4 |
| Average | 197.81 | 202.21 | 229.98 | 295.82 | 292.25 | 261.94 |
| Variance | 14109.87 | 8534.11 | 12977.01 | 40923.48 | 12316.95 | 5268.14 |
| Time to Completion - ANOVA | ||||||
| Source of variation | SS | df | MS | F | P-value | F crit |
| Between groups | 93689.79 | 5 | 18737.96 | 1.19 | 0.32 | 2.39 |
| Within groups | 847166.00 | 54 | 15688.26 | |||
| Total | 940855.79 | 59 | ||||
| Number of Errors - Summary | ||||||
| 600 pixels | 800 pixels | 1000 pixels | ||||
| 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | |
| Count | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Sum | 12 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 13 |
| Average | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Variance | 3.96 | 0.49 | 0.49 | 1.57 | 1.78 | 3.79 |
| Number of Errors - ANOVA | ||||||
| Source of variation | SS | df | MS | F | P-value | F crit |
| Between groups | 6.33 | 5 | 1.27 | 0.63 | 0.68 | 2.39 |
| Within groups | 108.6 | 54 | 2.01 | |||
| Total | 114.93 | 59 | ||||
| Subjective Rating - Summary | ||||||
| 600 pixels | 800 pixels | 1000 pixels | ||||
| 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | 1 column | 3 columns | |
| Count | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Sum | 51 | 62 | 50 | 69 | 36 | 67 |
| Average | 5.1 | 6.2 | 5 | 6.9 | 3.6 | 6.7 |
| Variance | 5.21 | 5.51 | 6.67 | 4.54 | 2.27 | 1.57 |
| Subjective Rating - ANOVA | ||||||
| Source of variation | SS | df | MS | F | P-value | F crit |
| Between groups | 78.63 | 5 | 15.74 | 3.66 | 0.01 | 2.39 |
| Within groups | 231.9 | 54 | 4.29 | |||
| Total | 310.58 | 59 | ||||
These tables show the results of single-factor ANOVA analysis performed on the experimental data. Single-factor ANOVA analysis was performed separately for every dependent variable for all the treatments. The analysis was done using Data Analysis Toolkit in Microsoft Excel 97.
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