1. Running Head: COMPETENCY AND SELF ESTEEM CORRELATIONAL STUDY
Methods and Results Sections for Self Esteem and Competency Study
Kyle Barrett
PSY 290
Methods and Results

2. COMPETENCY AND SELF ESTEEM CORRELATIONAL STUDY
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Methods
Participants
The participants were 24 research methods students at Arizona State University
and 105 additional participants that those students recruited, making 129 participants in
total. Students were required to generate questions for a survey and then take it online.
They were then requested to send out the survey to various acquaintances in order to gain
additional data. The mean age for participants was 21.66, with 30 indicating they are
male, 50 indicating they were female, and 49 participants not responding.
Materials
The same survey was distributed online to all participants via surveymonkey.com.
Questions and answer scales within the survey varied based on individual student
preferences. An example question for the data used in this correlational study would be
“How much do you agree with the following statement: I excel at what I do.” For this
question, participants were then provided a 1-10 answer scale, starting with “completely
disagree” and ending with “completely agree.” See Appendix Afor a full listing of the
survey questions and scales.
Procedure and Design
The survey was open to the public through a link at surveymonkey.com.
Participants generally received the survey link through e-mail, and were left to complete
the survey at their own leisure. The survey itself was designed by the 24 research
methods students who originally took it. Each of the students were instructed to write 5
survey questions based off of their own individual interests. These individual question

3. COMPETENCY AND SELF ESTEEM CORRELATIONAL STUDY
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sets were then collected by the students’ lab instructor and combined into the single
survey that all participants received.
Results
My Survey Questions
Data was analyzed with the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation. Participant
data was excluded based on pair-wise deletion. Questions 1, 2, and 4 each had 81 valid
responses and 48 missing responses, while question 3 had 80 valid responses with 49
missing responses.
As Table 1 in Appendix B shows, there is a significant correlation between the
questions “I excel at what I do,” and “In general, people think well of me,” with
r(79)=461,p<.001. The first question is aimed at gauging the participant’s perceived
competence, while the second is intended to be a measure of the participant’s self esteem.
Thepositive correlation between these two questions suggests that an individual’s
perception of his or her own competency is related to his or her overall self-esteem.
Creatively Combining Questions
After the self esteem and competency data was analyzed, it was then compared (through
the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation) with other survey data based on test-taking
anxiety. As Table 1 in Appendix B shows, there is a significant correlation between the
survey questions “others tend to dislike me” and “when the professor is not proctoring the
test, I feel nervous” with r(79)=-.363,p<.001. The negative correlation between these two
questions suggests that an individual’s overall self esteem is related to his or her test-
taking anxiety. More specifically, that individual’s with lower self-esteem tend to feel

4. COMPETENCY AND SELF ESTEEM CORRELATIONAL STUDY
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more nervous when a professor is proctoring a test, and individuals with higher self-
esteem are less affected by the professor’s presence.

5. COMPETENCY AND SELF ESTEEM CORRELATIONAL STUDY
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Appendix A: Survey Questions
The following questions were answered with a 1-10 Likert Scale, with 1 meaning
“I completely disagree” and 10 meaning “I completely agree.”
1. I excel at what I do
2. In general, people think well of me
3. I am not extraordinarily gifted
4. Others tend to dislike me
The following questions were answered with a 1-10 Likert Scale, with 1 meaning
“I strongly disagree” and 10 meaning “I strongly agree.”
5. Before taking a test, I show physical symptoms of being nervous
6. When the professor is not proctoring the test, I feel more nervous
7. Some subjects make me more nervous than other subjects while taking a test
8. If you are reading this survey, mark seven if you are reading this statement
9. I feel nervous before I take tests even if I have studied the material extensively

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Appendix B: Data Tables
Table 1. Correlations Between survey questions with p- Values in Parentheses
1 2 3 4 5
1. I excel at what I do 1.00
2. In general, people think well of
me
.461
(.001)
1.00
3. I am not extraordinarily gifted -.067
(.56)
.035
(.76)
1.00
4. Others tend to dislike me .028
(.80)
-.400
(.001)
.013
(.91)
1.00
5. Before taking a test, I show
physical symptoms of being
nervous
.055
(.623)
.035
(.47)
.021
(.86)
-.088
(.43)
1.00
6. When the professor is not
proctoring the test, I feel more
nervous
.227
(.04)
.211
(.06)
-.171
(.13)
-.363
(.001)
.333
(.001)
7. Some subjects make me more
nervous than other subjects while
taking a test
-.076
(.50)
-.090
(.43)
-.209
(.06)
.316
(.001)
.126
(.22)
8. If you are reading this survey,
mark seven if you are reading this
statement
.132
(.24)
.060
(.59)
-.070
(.54)
-.052
(.64)
.177
(.08)

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9. I feel nervous before I take
tests even if I have studied the
material extensively
-.144
(.20)
-.087
(.44)
-.082
(.47)
.198
(.08)
.433
(.001)
6 7 8 9
6. When the professor is not
proctoring the test, I feel more
nervous
1.00
7. Some subjects make me more
nervous than other subjects while
taking a test
-.106
(.30)
1.00
8. If you are reading this survey,
mark seven if you are reading this
statement
.162
(.11)
-.120
(.24)
1.00
9. I feel nervous before I take
tests even if I have studied the
material extensively
.018
(.86)
.652
(.001)
-.122
(.23)
1.00