Applied

Mathematics
Internal
Assessment
Unit 1

Title Page

Candidate Name: Linae Hendricks

Teacher: Mrs. Moonah- Allen
Internal Assessment: Applied Mathematics Unit 1
School: St. Marys high
Centre number: 100112
Registration number:
Year of examination: 2015
Territory: Jamaica

Table of Content
Project title..4
Purpose of project...5
Method of Data Collection..6
Presentation of data7
Analysis of data..13
Discussion of findings/ Conclusion...17
Reference20
Appendices.21

Project title
An investigation into the effects that dancehall music has on the students at my school.

Purpose of project

Music plays an important role in the lives of teenagers nowadays; commonly among high school
and college students. Dancehall is becoming an increasingly popular genre of music amongst adolescents.
According to Marcia Forbes study entitled Dancehall Dilemma on Jamaican music: 17 genres of music
were listed and 31. 7% of the respondents chose dancehall, 5% chose reggae and 4. 8% chose hip hop as
their favourite genre of music.
It has also been observed that the lyrics in these songs are explicit, violent and contains sexual
messages that promotes promiscuity among our teens and discourages children to stay in school.
Therefore, the researcher chose this topic to find out the various effects that dancehall music has on these
students.
The benefits of doing this research are that data will be collected from students who are a part of
this trend; possible causes, effects and solutions and recommendations will be highlighted.

Method of data collection

There are over 1600 students currently attending the St. Mary High School. To complete this
research, 21 students will be randomly selected through the simple random technique; that is, 3 students
from each grade.
The quantitative method of paper- pencil questionnaires will be utilized, seeing that this method
can be used for a wider population, the use of questionnaires saves the researcher time and because of
their anonymity, more truthful answers will be revealed.
Due to the random selection, the will be no bias and thus resulting in no flaws. The research was
carried out on December 9, 2014. 21 questionnaires were distributed to the randomly chosen students and
were completed and returned.

Presentation of Data

The pie chart in figure one shows how much time students spent studying. According to the diagram
5(24%). Students spent under one hour studying. 9(43%) spent 1-2 hours studying, 4(19%) students spent
3-4 hours studying and 3(14%) students spent over 4 hours studying.

Presentation of Data

The bar chart in figure 2 shows how long students listened to music. From the data collected it can be
noted that 3 students listened to music for less than an hour, 5 students for 1-2 hours, 5 students for 3-4
hours and 8 students for over 4 hours.

Presentation of Data

The bar chart in figure 3 shows which genre of music displays the most sexual behaviour. 3
students responded that souls displayed the most, 7 said R & B, 8 said Dancehall and 7 said Hip Hop.

Presentation of Data

The table shown in figure 4 gives the activities encouraged by dancehall music. 5 of the students
agreed that sexual activities are encouraged, 5 also said violence, 4 said drinking and smoking, 5 said all
of the above and the latter, 2, said none of the above.

10

Presentation of Data

The chart in figure 5 shows the impact of dancehall has on the students. 4 (24%) students
responded that it had a large impact on them, 3 (14%) said that it had a moderate impact, 6 (33%) said it
had a little impact and 7 (29%) said that it had no impact on them.

11

Presentation of Data

The chart in figure 6 shows how students plan to achieve academic success. 6 of the respondents
said that they will do so by studying and giving dancehall music a break. 3 of the respondents said that
they would listen to music and ignore their academic studies. 5 of the respondents said that they would be
able to multitask; doing their work and listening to music. And 7 of the respondents said that they would
make a timetable and set various times for varying tasks.

12

Analysis of data
MODULE ONE
MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

Age
11-13
14-16
17-18

No. of Students
6
9
6

Age

No. of Students

are as follows:

Mid Point

F(x)

11-13
14-16

6
9

12
15

72
135

17-18

6
f=21

17.5

105
fx=312

MEAN
x= fx/f
x= 312/21
x= 14.8
x= 15 (1d.p)

The age of the students that took part in this research

MODE
L+
1

MEDIAN

c
+
1

= 14-6
= 14-6
1

=14 +

6 12
6+6

= 14+ (6/12) 2
= 14+ 0.5 2
= 14 + 1
x= 15

13

Analysis of Data
MODULE ONE
MEASURES OF DISPERSION

STANDARD DEVIATION
5, 5, 4, 5, 2
Mean 4.2

Therefore: (Xi )2
n
(X

= (5--4.2)2 + (5--4.2)2+ (4--4.2)2 + (5-4.2)2 +(2-4.2)2

= 0.64+ 0.64+ 0.4 + 0.64 + 4.4

= 6.72/5
= 1.34
= 1.15 (1 d.p)

14

Analysis of Data
MODULE TWO

Probability

Question 12

Which of the following scenarios will better enable you to achieve academic success?

Studying my books and giving the dancehall music a break P(S)

Listening to music and ignoring my studies P(L)
Multi-tasking; listening to music and doing school work at the same time P(M)
Make a timetable to effectively carrying out tasks. P(T)

P(S)= 6/21= 0.3 (1 d.p)

P(L)= 3/21= 0.1
P(M)= 5/21= 0.2
P(T)= 7/21= 0.3

P( Studying or Listening to music or Multi tasking or Making a timetable)= 0.3+ 0.1+ 0.2+ 0.3= 0.9
P( Not doing any of the following)= 1-0.9= 0.1

15

Analysis of Data
MODULE THREE
The Distribution of the Sample Mean
For how long do you listen to music?

~ N (, 2/n)
~ N (5.25, 4.552/5)
~N (5.25, 4.14)
The probability that the mean time is less than 10.
P(

< 10) = P (Z<10-5.25)

4.14

= (Z < 2.3)
= 0.9788

16

The probability that the mean time is less than 10 is 0.9788

Findings
1. The mean age of the distribution is 15 rounded off to one decimal place, the mode age of the
distribution is 15 and the median age of the distribution is 15.
2. The standard deviation of the activities that dancehall music encourages is 1.15 as rounded to one
decimal place to show how spread out the numbers are from the mean.

3. The probability that the students will study their books and give dancehall music a break is 0.3
rounded off to 1 decimal place, the probability that they will listen to music and ignore their
studies is 0.1, the probability that they will multi-tasking; listening to music and doing school
work at the same is 0.2 and the probability that they will make a timetable to effectively carrying
out tasks is 0.3.
4. The probability that they will be either studying or listening to music or Multi tasking or Making
a timetable is 0.9.
5. The probability that they are not doing any of following is 0.9.
6. The probability that the mean time students spend studying is less than 10 is 0.9788

Discussion of Findings/ Conclusion

17

The research gave significant information about the effect dancehall has on the academic
development of children that attend my school.
At the school there is a population of over 1500 students and a sample of 21 students were chosen
for the research: that is 3 students from each grade. Using measures of central tendency, it was noted that
the average age of the students include in the research is 15. After careful examination of the collected
data, it was observed that 28.5% of the sample were younger than the average age and the same percent of
the students were also older than the average age. On further observation of the data, it was observed that
the modal age of the distribution was found out to be 15 as it was the age of most of the students in the
research and the median age of the distribution was noted to be 15 as well.
Using measures of dispersion, the standard deviation of the distribution was found to consider
how spread out the numbers are from the mean of the distribution. Using Question 6 from the
questionnaire: Which activities does dancehall music encourage? the mean was found out to be 4.2.
After further calculations it surfaced that the standard deviation of the distribution was .15 after being
rounded off to the nearest decimal point.
Which of the following scenarios will better enable you to achieve academic success? This is
the question that is brought forward in the questionnaire. The probability that the student will study their
books and dancehall music a rest is 0.3. the probability that that they will ignore their studies is 0.1, the
probability that they will multi task; listen to music and do their work is 0.2 and the probability that they
will create a timetable so as to be organized and set specific times for varying task is0.3. The probability
that the student will choose and carry out either one of these scenarios is 0.9 and the probability that they
will choose another; that is none from the list is 0.1.
After numerous calculations and observations it can be concluded that students are negatively
impacted by the dancehall music and seeing that in comparison to their school work they spend an awful
lot of time listening to the dancehall music it affects their academics. But in an effort to alleviate this
issue majority of the respondents agreed decided to create a timetable and manage their time wisely.
18

References

19

Mahadeo, R. (2007). Statistical Analysis The Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations A

Comprehensive Text. Trinidad and Tobago: Caribbean Educational Publishers Limited.

Appendices
20

1. Gender

Male
Femal
2. Age

11 13
14-16
17-18
3. How much time do you spend studying?

Less than an
hour
1-2 hours
3-4 hours
Over 4 hours
4. For how long do you listen to music?

Less than an
hour
1-2 hours
3-4 hours
Over 4 hours
5. Which genre of music displays the most sexual behaviour?

Souls
R&B
Dancehal
l
Hip Hop
Sexual
6. Which
activitiesActivities
does dancehall music encourage?
Violence
Drinking and
Smoking
All of the above
None of the

21

7. Which dancehall artiste do you listen to the most?

Aidonia
Vybz Kartel
Alkaline
Gage

8. Do you prefer explicit or clean dancehall?

Clean
Explicit
9. Does listening to dancehall music affect you positively or negatively?

Negative
ly
Positivel

10. Do you view dancehall artistes as role models for your own life?

Yes
No
11. Do you attend dancehall parties or stage shows?

Yes
No
12. To what extent do you think the lyrics and actions of dancehall artistes affect you?

Large
Moderate
Little
None
Reading
and studying
andyou
giving
the academic
dancehall
music a
13.
Which
of the following
scenariosmy
will books
better enable
to achieve
success?
break
Listening to music and ignoring my studies
Multi-tasking; listening to music and doing school work at the same
time
22