Aim
To investigate the relationship between having pets and stress.
Hypothesis
It is hypothesized that there is a negative correlation between having pets and stress. This is a one-tailed directional hypothesis.
Research method
This study will be conducted as a correlation study with two co-variables. Self-reports that is questionnaires will be used to collect data.
Co-variables
Variable 1: Number of pets
Variable 2: Level of stress
Operationalisation of variables
Questionnaire form will contain 25 closed questions on stress level with a 5-point rating scale (1 being 'rarely or never true' and 5 being 'often or always true').
Example questions: 'I feel overwhelmed by day to day tasks', 'I do not feel motivated at most times'
Filler questions: 'I feed my pets regularly'
One demographic information question at the end of the questionnaire will ask participants to indicate how many pets reared more than one year do they have.
Procedure
Participants who consent to join will be brought into an empty room with a table and a chair. They will be given the questionnaire in paper and pencil method to be completed individually without any presence of others. They will only be given a maximum of 30 minutes to complete it.
Data analysis
Quantitative data is collected. The total stress level score of each participant will be calculated. The data collected will be plotted as a scatter plot with x-axis as number of pets, y-axis as stress level score. A best fit line will be drawn to see whether the hypothesis is supported. A line going downward will indicate a negative correlation between the two variables. The correlation coefficient will be calculated to determine the strength of correlation, the closer it is to 1.00 the stronger the correlation.