Lee Beckman Wissahickon High School

The Effect of the Gender of Elementary School Students on Hand Washing Frequency and Quality

Does the gender of elementary school students effect their hand washing frequency and quality?

If the student is male, then the student will be less likely to wash their hands with a high quality.

It is generally believed that men have poor hand washing habits in comparison to girls

 Human Behavioral Study  Psychology

 Outside of Bathroom  Get Permission

IV: Independent Variable – Student Gender DV: Dependent variable – Hand Washing Frequency and Quality CONSTANTS: Position of observation outside of the bathroom, time of the day, time of the week, same school. LevelsMaleFemale Trials30 (Students)

 Automotive Transportation  Tally chart  Access to an elementary school  Stopwatch

 Go to Lower Gwynedd Elementary.  Sit in hallway  Observe hand washing quality  Record hand washing quality  Appropriately, Inappropriately or Not at All

Hand Washing Quality AppropriatelyInappropriatelyNot at AllTotals Male (Students) Female (Students)

 Expected:  Observed:

 Chi-square test for independence  (95% confidence)  Chi Squared Critical Value = 3.84  1 Degree of Freedom

Null Hypotheses Male If males wash their hands at random; there will be no significant difference in the preference. Female If females wash their hands at random; there will be no significant difference in the preference.

Male Calculations Chi Squared Value = ∑ [(Observed – Expected)^2 / (Expected)] [(15-10)^2/ (10)] = 2.5 [(8-10)^2/ (10)] =.4 [(7-10)^2/ (10)] = = 3.8

Male Results  Chi Squared Value < 3.84  Less than a 5% chance that the data is random  Observations are significant  Reject the null hypothesis

Female Calculations Chi Squared Value = ∑ [(Observed – Expected)^2 / (Expected)] [(12-10)^2/ (10)] =.4 [(5-10)^2/ (10)] = 2.5 [(3-10)^2/ (10)] = = 7.8

Female Results  Chi Squared Value > 3.84  Greater than a 5% chance that the data is random  Observations are not significant  Accept the null

 15 to 30 seconds for hand washing  (Lifespan 2010)  Vigor of their hand washing  (Lerner 2010)  Sufficient drying of hands  Contamination by touching faucet or wastebasket again  (Carter 2008)

 Age of Students  Knowledge, Independence and Maturity  Cause of Hand washing (Activity, Task, etc.)  Likelihood of Hand Washing (By Task)  Peer Persuasion (Group Hand washing)  Testing Effect of Peer Persuasion

 Age of Students  Observe Students of Certain Age  Cause of Hand washing (Activity, Task, etc.)  Observe Students Only from Bathroom  Peer Persuasion (Group Hand washing)  Observe Only Alone Students

 Address problems of hand washing tendencies at Elementary Schools.  Teach others of the proper and effective ways to hand wash.

If the high school student is male, then the student will be less likely to wash their hands with a high quality. If the student is older, then the student will be more likely to wash their hands with a high quality.

 Mrs. Pietrangelo  Mrs. West  Lower Gwynedd Elementary School Principle  Staff and Students  Of Lower Gwynedd Elementary School  My Parents

 Carter, Pamela J. Lippincott's Textbook for Nursing Assistants: a Humanistic Approach to Caregiving. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Print.  "Designing an Observation Study." Sciencebuddies.org. Web. 06 Oct  "Hand Washing, Your Best Defense!" Fsu.edu. Florida State University, Web. 6 Oct  "Hygiene." World of Microbiology and Immunology. Ed. Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner. Detroit: Gale, Gale Science In Context. Web. 5 Oct  "It's In Your Hands." Lifespan Web. 6 Oct

ANY QUESTIONS?