Analyzing Variables and Sampling in Psychological Studies - Week 5

This assignment explores the concepts of variables and sampling within a psychological context. The student analyzes two hypothetical issues: the effectiveness of prayer and the existence of extra-sensory perception (ESP). Using the example of athletes praying before a game, the student designs a mock study to test the effectiveness of prayer, identifying independent and dependent variables and outlining a sampling method. Similarly, for the ESP issue, the student proposes a study to test whether individuals possess extra-sensory perception, particularly in educational settings, examining how students perceive and describe information beyond direct observation. The assignment details the study's procedures, variable identification, and sampling techniques (observation and random sampling), providing a comprehensive analysis of the research design process.

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Variables and Sampling
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Issue 1
In my opinion, prayers are effective provided that one has faith in what he/she is praying
for. Prayers become effective once you have strongly believed that whatever you’re praying for
will be fulfilled. It is my suggestions that there is power in prayers and God answers our prayers.
People tend to pray for others in various ways for various reasons (Greenhouse, 2012). Through
prayers, some things do happen to our lives. Prayer is a religious spiritual matter and it depends
on the beliefs and faith of the individuals. We believe that prayers are answered by God and
related ones to faith. Taking an example of the prayers made athletes before a game; I will
discuss various aspects that make prayers effective. It is believed that prayers are answered by
God and He has three ways of answering them. God can answer your prayers instant after
praying, He can take time to answer the same prayer and He can completely deny answering the
prayers. It is believed that prayers are effective regardless of their results because God is always
right. Taking an example of the athletes, who pray before the start of the game expects success
because of the prayers. In many times, players are effective and help in different situations. The
athletes pray for a win and Gods protection from other dangers like getting injured during the
match. The prayers made by the athletes enable them to win the match. The fact the prayers are
made by different athletes in competition, they are believed to be answered differently. Having
been mentioned earlier that God answers the prayers differently, the one that wins the match is
believed to have received the instant answer from God.

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In this case, the independent variables are the athletes and their faith in prayers. It
depends on how they play and their faith in their prayers to be answered. The fact is that
different athletes will have different faith in prayers (Dossey, 2011). Some will have strong faith
other will have little faith. It is believed that the ones with a strong faith in their win do the best
in the match. In fact, the truth about the matter is that faith and prayers should be together for the
effectiveness of the prayers. This means that the way people are not dependable on anything
neither does it result from certain outcomes. This is why the athletes are categorized as
independent variables because they are the main source of the outcome and they don't rely on
anything that affects the results of the prayers. The independent variables are measured through
the outcome of the athletes ' event. On the other hand, the dependent factors are the winning
team simply because it is a result of the prayers. In this connection, the winning of the team is
considered to be an outcome of the prayers. In connection with this, prayers are considered to be
effective because depending on the faith in the athletes they emerge the winners at the end.
The dependent variables, in this case, are measured through the outcome of the event. In
the evaluation of the sampling method used, the dependent variables are measured. The outcome
of the match defines the dependent variables of the case study. This is determined by the team or
the individual athlete winning the match. It is my suggestion that in most cases, the athlete with a
strong faith is the one who wins the match. There are some probabilities that may prove the
effectiveness of the prayer. Some prayers may be answered immediately as mentioned earlier
mentioned and that is what measures the effectiveness of the prayers as far as dependent factors
are concerned. The procedure of the study starts with the identification of the athletes who pray

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before the start of the match. The factor to be considered here is the identification of the athletes
who pray how they do it and time take in praying. It is very true that some of them do not pray
because they are not willing and they don't see the effectiveness of the same.
The sampling technique applied here is the observation of the athletes praying and the
outcome of the end of the match. The number of athletes praying is identified and the outcome of
the match is evaluated. The things to put into consideration here are the identification of how the
prayers make their prayers before the match. The comparison is made at the end of the match
against what was observed. It has been observed that humbler athletes who make their genuine
prayers in a better way win the match. There are still some exceptions but the fact remains that
prayers are effective and they determine the outcome of the events and needs of people.
Issue 2
It is true that people have extra-sensory perception and they are able to know more about
something they never physically see. I guess almost all normal people have the capacity to think
about something and define it the way it is without even seeing it physically. It does not matter
whether someone saw the picture or not. Depending on the information they know about the
picture they can define it and give the exact characteristics. This is a daily event done by each
one of us just within the social setting. In my case, I will take an example of the students and
learners in schools and relate their learning program to the ESP concept. The students and
learners have the ESP concept, especially in their learning frameworks (Gulliksen, 2018).
Learners are exposed to different information covering different aspects of real-life situations.

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Everything taught in the class not necessarily that it was seen by physical eyes by the students.
Some concepts taught in classes are out of imaginations and fiction. For instance, in literature
work, most of what is taught is imagination and work of fiction. Some story books read by the
students are not physically seen but it is out of the fiction and imaginations. During the
examination, students are able to write what exactly they learned in the class. Taking an example
of science subjects, the students are able to describe the inner parts of the body even without
having been seen the inner physically. Moreover, on social studies subjects and history based
subjects, students are able to describe what happened many years ago even the time before they
were born. Depending on the information they received from their tutors, they are able to
describe the picture, event, location or historical era without even having been to the place
(Sharp & Clark, 2017). I think people have extra-sensory perception and ability to perceive some
pictures without having been seen them. The best examples are seen in schools whereby the
students are given the instructions in the examination to draw the pictures and name its parts.
The fact here is that the students are not having the same picture within the exam room but
through extra-sensory perception, they are able to draw exactly what it looks (Rhine, 2018). I
think people have got another inner eye of imagination which is able to see and perceive the
pictures exactly the way they are physical.
In this case study, there are independent factors that do not depend on other aspects. The
students are the independent variable because they do not change. In this case, I mean every
student has extra-sensory perception and therefore the perception capacity is constant. I think this
is determined by the source of information. In the determination of the independent variables as a

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student, some factors should be held constant. The factors to be held constant include the
capacity to understand and perceive pictures. They should be assumed to be constant for all
students. In contrary to this, students will have different capacities to show their extra-sensory
perception but in this case, this is assumed to be equal to all students because the source of the
information is the same (same tutor). The independent variables here are measured by the similar
information received from the tutor in the picture or something never seen by the students. No
student is allowed to see the picture physically. This will be the best way in determination of the
extra-sensory perception of the individual students.
On the other hand, dependent variables are the outcome of the extra-sensory perception.
This is determined by how the people describe the picture having specific features. The fact is
that people will have different extra-sensory perception capacity regardless of having the same
sources of the information. In connection with this, some students will not fully understand the
features of whatever they were taught about (Zahra, 2011). Others will be able to understand the
features and master everything with the first attempt. This is more dependable on the capacity of
the people to understand a certain concept or picture.
The dependent variables are measured through the outcome of the picture description.
The source of information is constant because everything was taught by the same tutor, at the
same class and at the same time. So the mastering capacity of the people/students is the one
which determines the outcome of the results. The procedure used in the study is monitoring of
the extra-sensory perception capacity of the student by looking at real-life situations in learning

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programs. The students ' perspective is measured through an evaluation of how the students are
able to masters ' pictures without physical seen them.
In addition, the procedure of the study is carried out through the evaluation of the results
given by the students and people regarding the features of the picture measured. The best way to
determine the extra-sensory perception of the students is through evaluation of how they give the
description of a certain aspect as compared to a real-life situation. The random sampling
technique will be used in the study. In this case study, 10 students will be given the description
of certain features like historical buildings and give the test of the end. Students will be allowed
to give a description of whatever they learned in the picture as an assessment. After the
assessment, samples of about 7 student descriptions will be collected randomly and analyzed for
their extra-sensory perception capacity. The data will be recorded on the basis of which students
gave all or inadequate information taught before the assessment. This will be a better way of
accessing the extra-sensory perception of the students/people.

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References
Dossey, L. (2011). Prayer is good medicine: How to reap the healing benefits of prayer. Journal
of Contemporary Religion, 17(3), 329-334.
Greenhouse, C. J. (2012). Nature is to culture as praying is to suing: Legal pluralism in an
American suburb. The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 14(20), 17-35.
Gulliksen, H. O. (2018). Extra-sensory perception: What is it?. American Journal of
Sociology, 43(4), 623-634.
Rhine, J. B. (2018). Extra-sensory perception. Sigma Xi Quarterly, 26(4), 170-174.
Sharp, V., & Clark, C. C. (2017). Group tests for extra-sensory perception. The Journal of
Parapsychology, 1(2), 123.
Zahran, S. K. A. E. K. (2011). Some Personal and Social Variables That Affect Extra Sensory
Perception (Sixth Sense). Psychology, 2(04), 388.

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