A Quantitative Research on Breathing: Design for Interaction Research Methodologies and Practice

1. Group 4
Rojin Moghadam,
Sunqi (Saki) Tang,
Yunzhao (Myra) Ma
Breathe

2. Research
Methodology
2
Our
motivation
Breathing techniques are introduced as tools to help people relax and
lower the stress level. There are a lot of advantages of breath therapy:
it can be done everywhere and every time and it costs nothing. Due to
the time limit of this project, we cannot conduct a long-term study.
Therefore, we choose to validate how different breath techniques
influence subjective well-being at a specific moment. In Particular, we
want to compare the state of hedonic well-being before and after a
short breathing therapy session. Moreover, we decide to focus on
young adults because they are more accessible in this Covid-19 period.

3. Research
Methodology
3
Effectiveness
How effective are these techniques
compared to each other?
The Main Research Question
How different breathing techniques influence the hedonic
well-being of young adults (age range 18-29)?
Difference
A comparison of results of two
different breathing techniques.
Duration
What is the effect of duration on each
technique resulting the improvement of
hedonic well-being of young adults?
The sub-research question

4. Research
Methodology
4
Hedonic
Well-being
Ratio of PA to NA
Positive
Affect
Negative
Affect
Thompson, E. R., 2007
Calmness
Pleasant
-ness
- Active
- Alert
- Attentive
- Determined
- Inspired
- Afraid
- Ashamed
- Hostile
- Nervous
- Upset

5. Research
Methodology
5
Breathing Techniques
5s inhalation
5s exhalation
Cardiac coherence
365
Breathing
Technique
5s inhalation
5s holding breath
5s exhalation
5s holding breath
Box
Breathing
Technique
2 techniques
each will be
experimented in
2 durations
How

6. Research
Methodology
6
The Participants
Between-groups:
8 participants per
assignment
08
Each
Young adults
aaaa
20-29
Age
No specific breath
conditions
Consideration
32 participants in
total
32
4 offline, 28 online

7. Research
Methodology
7
The Procedure
Place without
distractions
Where
Online VS Offline
A comparison on
duration in each
technique
How long
5 min VS 15 min
How
Protocols
- Pre-test evaluation
- Breathing exercise
- Post-test evaluation

8. Research
Methodology
8
Detailed
Plan
Checklist from the Blandford book
- The table PDF is on Notion page: https://s3.us-west-
2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/da90456a-a9d1-
41d7-870c-85c62e2e0441/RM_-_vital_-_Frame_2.pdf?X-
Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-
Credential=AKIAT73L2G45O3KS52Y5%2F20210624%2Fus-
west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-
Date=20210624T111549Z&X-Amz-Expires=86400&X-Amz-
Signature=7c3264bd9bc642aa9dc7b32ba1101f1b7f0ddc6d7
0f9f6a5174cb8b1725d5946&X-Amz-
SignedHeaders=host&response-content-
disposition=filename%20%3D%22RM%2520-
%2520vital%2520-%2520Frame%25202.pdf%22

9. Research
Methodology
9
Methods for
Data acquisition
General:
● Age
● Gender
● Level of experiences with
breathing therapy
Pre-experiment and post-experiment:
● A 7-point PANAS-short (Finstad, 2010;
Colman et al., 1997; Lewis, 1993)
● Experience with the breathing session
● EEG
● Heart rate (André,2019)

10. Research
Methodology
10
Variables for
Hedonic well-being*
Positive Variables:
● active
● alert
● attentive
● determined
● inspired
Negative Variables:
● afraid
● ashamed
● hostile
● nervous
● upset
*Thompson, E. R., 2007

11. Research
Methodology
11
Offline
Experiment
Set-up (EEG)
Step 3
Instruction video of the breathing technique
Step 1
Pre-test questionnaire and consent form
Step 6
Post-test questionnaire
Step 4
Breathing session for 5 or 15 minutes
Step 7
Interview about the whole experience
Step 2
Oximeter, EEG, Thoracic movement sensor attached
Step 5
Oximeter, EEG, Thoracic movement sensor detached

12. Research
Methodology
12
Online
Experiment
Set-up
Step 2: Pre-exercise evaluation
Simplified version of PANA questions + Calm + Pleasant
Step 4: Post-exercise evaluation
Simplified version of PANA questions + Calm + Pleasant
Step 3: Time to breath now!
Following the guide video to do the Breathing
Exercise for 5 or 15 minutes
Step 5: Last Questions!
Qualitative questions (Subjective Feelings)
and short interview about the whole experience
Questionnaire
Link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSepT-
gvhK2KpaYRRDMTkOkoR4LFk825GC_zI0f1z4g587_Dkw/viewform?usp=sf_l
ink
Breath Exercise Guide Video Link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iEDjrcq8M-
9uAoYdOqAcNUiclST44YO2?usp=sharing
Step 1: Basic Information
Age, gender, experience with breathing exercise
Step 1 Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step5

13. Research
Methodology
13
An example of the
guided breathing video
(5-minute Box Technique)
For the other videos visit our notion page:
https://www.notion.so/DfI-Research-Methodology-2ea62af597074356b6a382e4647f0a0a?p=04e55bc5b0694f759268e2e90cc5fa42

14. Research
Methodology
14
Our
Research Story
Firstly, we tested the breathing practices using EEG sensors to see which technique works the best. After
analyzing EEG data, we found out that the 365 technique works better than the box technique. We tried to
validate this finding by conducting online research with more participants.
At first glance, online research data revealed that the 15-minute Box technique has the most influence on the
hedonic variables; it has the most improvement in the PA/NA ratio. However, diving into the data and analyzing
them to understand why online and offline tests have different results, we discovered an interesting point! There
was a significant deviation in the 15-minute Box results. Focusing on the variable of "previous meditation
experience," the deviation lies in the fact that experienced participants like the 15-minute Box technique, whereas
inexperienced people find it frustrating and challenging. A t-test for both PA and NA demonstrates that only 15-
minute 365 has a considerable impact on hedonic wellbeing. Moreover, data analysis for the aspects of "calm"
and "pleasant", and how much the participants liked the practice also show that 15-minute 365 is ranked higher.
To sum up everything that has been stated so far, 15-minute 365 technique is the best choice for beginners who
aim to practice breathing therapy for increasing hedonic well-being, or in other words, happiness and life
satisfaction.

15. Research
Methodology
15
Our
EEG Result
Light blue color represents the alpha brainwave. The higher the alpha
brainwave, the more relax the participant feel. Orange color represents the
beta waves. The higher the beta wave, the more focused the participant is. The
EEG results of the four offline participants at the final state of the breathing
session are shown below.
Based on this result we can conclude that the 365 technique helps people relax
and the box technique helps people get focused. Moreover, in this offline test
the 365 breathing technique is rated higher than the box technique. We will
validate these findings by analysing the online test results.
5-min 365
5-min box
15-min 365
15-min
box

16. Research
Methodology
16
Online test
Result
15-min box technique results the most
improvement in the ratio of positive to negative
affect, however, it also has the highest standard
deviation of the mean ratio of positive to negative
affect. This makes it difficult to firmly stand on a point
for this technique.
This is different than the result we got from the EEG
test. Therefore, it is interesting to dive more into the
data and find out what causes this difference.

17. Research
Methodology
17
Preference for
technique
Besides, looking into the rate of how much the participants
liked each technique, the 365 technique for 15 minutes
takes the highest mean score. Box technique for 15
minutes is also rated high on average, however, the
dispersion of data (having the highest and lowest individual
scores) represents a disputable uncommon opinion
about this technique. 365 Technique and Box technique
both for 5 minutes are rated respectively the 3rd and 4th in
this comparison.
Being curious about the participants' feedbacks in this figure,
we furthermore investigated the possible reasons behind
this rating.

18. Research
Methodology
18
Previous
Experience
In order to understand what causes the noticeable
data distribution, we analysed the relation between
participants’ previous experience with breath
therapy and their PA/NA ratings.
It is shown that the box breathing technique works
better for participants who have experience with
breathing sessions than the participants who have no
experience. It can be concluded that the level of
experience can influence the effectiveness of the
breath therapy.

19. Research
Methodology
19
T-test for
PA and NA
In order to conclude which breathing session is most effective for
improving the hedonic well-being, further analysis is needed. We
analysed the effect of four breathing sessions on positive and
negative affect separately. A t-test is conducted for the positive
affect score in before and after situation and the changes of
negative affect are analysed in the same way.
In general, positive affect increased and negative affect decreased
after all the breathing sessions but did not show significance. Only
in the 15-min 365 technique negative effect showed a significant
decrease in mean from 15,75 to 10,75 (p<.05).

20. Research
Methodology
20
T-test for
Calmness
Effect
5-min 356 breath technique can bring significant increase to users' calmness level.
There is one outlier in the 15-minute 365 conditions. The t-test which includes this outlier
showed a p-value of 0,07 (p>.05). The t-test excluding this outlier showed a significant
effect (p=0,04). Suggestion: The calmness effect of 15-minute 365 breath technique
could be further studied.
After
removing the
outlier data
Before
removing the
outlier data
✅ ❌

21. Research
Methodology
21
T-test for
Pleasantness
Effect
15-min 365 breathing session can bring
significant increase to users' pleasantness level.

22. Research
Methodology
22
Conclusions
Effective
to increase
calmness
Most
popular
(within our
research scope)
Effective for
experience
d people
Like-dislike
highly
polarized
Effective
to increase
pleasant-
ness level
15 min
365 Technique
15 min
Box Technique
Box Technique
15 min
365 Technique
Effective
to decrease
negative
affect
5 min
365 Technique
15 min
365 Technique
P19
P21
P17
P17
P18
P20

23. Research
Methodology
23
Answering
research question
The EEG result shows that the 365 breathing technique helps people relax and meditate, while the box
technique helps people get focussed. The result of online test showed that all of the four breathing
sessions increase the ratio of positive to negative affect but did not show significance. 15-min box
breathing session showed the largest increase in the PA/NA ratio, however, it also had the highest
standard deviation of the mean PA/NA ratio. Therefore, it is hard to conclude that the 15-min box
breathing technique is the most effective one to increase the hedonic well-being. The noticeable data
distribution of box technique is caused by the level of experience with breath therapy. The box
technique is more effective for experienced participants. After analysing the effects of four breathing
sessions from different aspects, positive affect, negative affect, calmness and pleasant, it can be
concluded that 15-min 365 breathing technique is the most effective one to increase the hedonic well-
being. It has a significant effect on decreasing the negative affect. Furthermore, we also used JMP to
analyse the duration. It doesn’t show significant effect on improving the hedonic well-being.

24. Research
Methodology
24
Reflection
on method
● Besides JMP analysis, why we still use T-TEST ?
We are grateful that we have chance to try the statistics tool-JMP in this course Research Methodology. With JMP
we can easily create a lot of test models to test whether there is correlation between variables. However, because
of limited time and number of people in the group, we only manage to collect small sample data (number of
samples <= 30). And T-TEST is one method that we take for sure is suitable for small sample data. Since our
experiment is designed to compare pre-test and post-test data which are from the same group of participants, we
select paired T-TEST.

25. Research
Methodology
25
Discussion
of results
In this study the online research is chosen due to Covid-19 restrictions. This way of
collecting data has pros and cons. It makes more participants accessible and makes testing
more efficient. On the other hand, the result of the experiment is less accurate. The test
environment for each participant varies. It is also not controllable whether the participant
has finished the breathing session. The environmental variables, such as the light, noise,
type of the chair, etc. may have an effect on the result. The ideal experiment setup would
be inviting all the participants to the same testing room in which we can minimise changes
of the environmental variables.

26. Research
Methodology
26
Our
Recommendations
The results of this study are expected to be used in the mental
health industry. From a design perspective, there could be a
personalized breath therapy based on the previous experience
with breathing exercise and the goals of the user (relax VS focus). In
general, the 365 technique will be suggested for beginners. On the
other hand, further research can be done about the
environmental variables which influence the quality of the
breathing session.

27. Thank you!