Guns Of Icarus Online

Off-Topic => The Lounge => Topic started by: Morblitz on May 29, 2013, 06:19:17 pm

Title: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on May 29, 2013, 06:19:17 pm
Hey everyone,

I'd like to first both acknowledge and thank N-Sunderland, and Muse Clara Skyborn for granting me permission to make this thread.

Some of you know me already as Morblitz, but my name is Morgan, and I am a student currently completing a degree in Psychological Science (Honours) at Charles Darwin University, Australia.

For my Honours thesis  I need to conduct an Internet based psychological study, and the data I need to get for this study is through responses to a short 15 minute survey that I have put up online. We are seeking male and female participants who are 18 years of age or over, and are able to read and write in English fluently.

The study will examine participants’ relationship and attachments styles, and their effects on quality of sleep.
If you have 15 minutes to spare, it would really be appreciated if you could help me collect as many responses as possible by completing this survey. Also, if you could forward it (either by linking this forum post or copying and sharing the survey link) to as many of your friends as you can – even to just 1 other person, it would be fantastic.

To take the survey, please click on this link http://cduhes.asia.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_1ZDErOFtAJMvYy1 and please be as honest as possible.

All information provided will be anonymous and protected and the survey is based on a collection of validated measures. The website is completely safe, and there are no risks of viruses or any sort of thing like that.

I am very curious as to how this diverse group of people might be reflected in any data that I get, so I hope you will consider giving it a go.

If you have any questions please ask away.

Thank you so much for your time, guys!

- Morgan (Morblitz) (Student Researcher)
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Shinkurex on May 29, 2013, 07:39:49 pm
So can you tell me if it really is my fault or not? :P .... I shall give it a go... hope it helps :D
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Mill Wilkinson on May 29, 2013, 07:53:14 pm
Everything is Shink's fault. Thy is the will of Bacon.

But on a serious note, anybody can participate? Even from the Frozen North of Finland like I am? Just to make sure.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Papa Paradox on May 29, 2013, 10:21:45 pm
Haha That reminds me of this comic... The internet is a scary place.

(http://v.cdn.cad-comic.com/comics/cad-20121217-208c5.png)
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on May 30, 2013, 01:34:37 am
Thanks heaps for your responses guys, it is massively appreciated. Every little bit helps!

Everything is Shink's fault. Thy is the will of Bacon.

But on a serious note, anybody can participate? Even from the Frozen North of Finland like I am? Just to make sure.

Yeah it's a general population snowballing internet survey. Which means once I put it up, it's fairly out of my control regarding who wishes to take it. The only caveats are that you are required to be 18 years old or over, and speak and write english fluently.

So yeah, I'm pretty sure it would be fine for you to take it! :) The golden rule here is that, the more responses, the better!

Also, Shink, when I examine the data I'll try to let you know whether or not it is indeed your fault.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on May 30, 2013, 06:25:50 am
My survey responses have been climbing. Whilst this thread has been relatively quiet, I think there have been some people who have been taking the survey, and just not posting about it.

So, thanks to everyone that I know have taken it.

But also, thanks to all the people who have taken it that I don't know about! :)
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: RethBurn on May 30, 2013, 08:54:25 am
I'll throw in my 2 cents I guess. Everything for a fellow GOIO player!
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on May 30, 2013, 09:33:31 am
Cheers! It's super appreciated :)
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Skrimskraw on May 30, 2013, 11:34:43 am
I might have taken it, but I might also be the guy who shows signs of  psychosis :p
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Sgt. Spoon on May 30, 2013, 12:19:18 pm
yeah I sound really depressed in this survey, heh
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: GrimWinter on May 30, 2013, 12:57:56 pm
Well my responses in that felt pretty grim..

Uh, that wasn't supposed to be a joke with my name but we'll go with it.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: RethBurn on May 30, 2013, 03:42:57 pm
Well my responses in that felt pretty grim..

Uh, that wasn't supposed to be a joke with my name but we'll go with it.

Your name would be perfect if you suffered from winter depressions, no offense ofcourse.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: GrimWinter on May 30, 2013, 04:00:42 pm
Well my responses in that felt pretty grim..

Uh, that wasn't supposed to be a joke with my name but we'll go with it.

Your name would be perfect if you suffered from winter depressions, no offense ofcourse.
Lol, none taken. Although the name is actually the combination of two names for characters from two different stories from mine. Happened to find out they sound pretty cool together.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on May 30, 2013, 06:54:10 pm
Thanks very much for your participation guys!

Yeah its interesting how surveys make you reflect on things like mood and what not. I had one girl who took it tell me that the survey made her realise how bad her sleep was and its something she should probably fix.

Hope the mood stuff isn't too concerning. If it is, try to do some exercise, it's a good start.

Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Gear Ghost on May 30, 2013, 06:55:50 pm
Took the survey. Overall I'd say my relationship is great, and that most of my stress comes from work.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: HamsterIV on May 30, 2013, 07:20:20 pm
Taking this survey has made me realize how hostile to my fellow man Guns of Icarus has made me. Several of the questions about how irritable I get, and how I respond to other people hindering my progress were marked higher because of my GOI play. Prior to GOI I was programming and playing single player games in my free time, which did not aggravate me nearly as much as dealing with trolls/newbs.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Captain Smollett on May 30, 2013, 10:15:45 pm
Just finished my survey.

Only took a minute, everyone should do it or else Morblitz will never get to graduate or something.

Just dooooo iiiiiiit.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Kyren on May 31, 2013, 05:12:39 am
There you've got your first and supposedly only austrian reply!
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Mill Wilkinson on May 31, 2013, 05:21:24 am
Finnish "I bite your throat" answer made. xD
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on May 31, 2013, 06:19:03 am
Thanks a lot guys! Your input is really awesome and much appreciated.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: HamsterIV on May 31, 2013, 11:38:54 am
Just finished my survey.

Only took a minute, everyone should do it or else Morblitz will never get to graduate or something.

Just dooooo iiiiiiit.

If Morblitz graduates, then he will have to find a real job and not spend so much time with us. I say we do what ever we can to keep him a student for life.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Mill Wilkinson on May 31, 2013, 01:06:39 pm
If Morblitz graduates, then he will have to find a real job and not spend so much time with us. I say we do what ever we can to keep him a student for life.
Evil. Just, evil. I like it.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Sgt. Spoon on May 31, 2013, 03:58:41 pm
Hope the mood stuff isn't too concerning. If it is, try to do some exercise, it's a good start.

to late
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: -Muse- Cullen on May 31, 2013, 05:36:28 pm
Taken. Good luck, Morgan!
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Keyvias on May 31, 2013, 08:06:18 pm
I have done your survey.  You now know more about my personal life than your should.  It's quite boring though so take that!
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on May 31, 2013, 09:22:26 pm
Thanks guys, you are all awesome!
Keyvias, it's completely anonymous and confidential, chances are I couldn't figure out which response was specifically you even if I wanted to. Boring doesn't matter, it's all data :)

Also, whilst the prospect of being a part of the Icarus community for all eternity is a happy thought, being a student forever just fills me with the utmost dread. Like I literally just got sadness chills.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: HamsterIV on June 01, 2013, 12:20:40 am
For a while I considered graduating college to be one of the worst mistakes of my life. It marked the transition from a period of stability and direction, to a period of crappy jobs and uncertainty.  Things got better after a few years of crap.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Lord Dick Tim on June 01, 2013, 01:34:48 am
I took the survey, just kinda highlights the amazing coping ability I developed after years of being a disaster team member.
Found that special niche to care about what I do and try to help every day, but I'm able to sleep at night comfortably with every failing that kind of career brought.
Now if only I could fix the entire "noon... It's too cold outside, the bed is so warm, and comfy.  Let me sleep for another day" that happens occasionally.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Praxedis on June 01, 2013, 04:02:48 am
Just finished your survey.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on June 01, 2013, 11:08:50 pm
Thanks guys!

Yeah I know that after University comes uncertainty, but I'm pretty eager to be able to go out and do a job and then come home and have my own time. I'm getting pretty sick of it being Assignment O'clock every hour :p

Also, Lord Dick Tim, that's really good to hear. Glad it worked out well for you!
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on June 04, 2013, 10:14:24 pm
My responses have climbed significantly. My supervisor says we may have set a record for honours recruitment. I think this is due in no small part  to the support from you guys. The survey is still up, but it's going very strong.

Thank you so much guys. You are all awesome!
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Mill Wilkinson on June 06, 2013, 07:10:58 pm
Whii, we are awesome. ^^
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: timmymonsta on June 06, 2013, 10:16:21 pm
Did this out for you quickly, as I like being able to help those who need it. Quite an opening survey too when you really think about it. Anyway, hope your thesis comes out great!
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Shinkurex on July 10, 2013, 11:36:52 am
Hey Morblitz.... what ever happened to this? I'm curious to know how the thesis worked out, or if it's still in the works :)
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on July 13, 2013, 05:47:44 am
Hey Shink!
Thanks for asking.
The thesis is definitely still in the works! My degree depends on it :p.

It's not due until the end of November so it will be a work in progress until it's actually submitted. I'm starting to get into working with the data that I've collected so far (thanks again guys!) but unfortunately we are having issues with the analysis. So I can't really definitively speak about any kind of results as yet.

I'll try to keep you guys informed :)
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Shinkurex on July 13, 2013, 08:26:41 am
Thanks for the update :) I hope your issues clear up, and I look forward to hearing more about this :))
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on November 10, 2013, 09:09:27 pm
Hey guys!
Reviving this thread from a lifetime ago.

I'm not sure how many people remember this thread when it popped up, but it's been a large part of my year and it felt like it would never end.

I successfully completed and presented my thesis last week and I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. Now I just sit and twiddle my thumbs while waiting for my grades to come in. And video games, lots of video games.

I just want to thank everyone that donated their time to participate, we ended up with over 500 valid participants which is a mind blowing amount for a college level study, and made a very diverse and comprehensive sample. So, thank you.

If anyone is still curious or interested, I'm going to write up a little summary of the results and what they might mean and post it in here. I'll also try to articulate what the issues in my thesis were that I mentioned earlier that may have given me a couple gray hairs. I'll try to get this up shortly!

Thanks again guys.
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Shinkurex on November 10, 2013, 09:23:57 pm
I was actually just thinking about this... look forward to the write up
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on December 18, 2013, 11:44:11 pm
Hey everyone! Sorry I took so long to do this write up. I've been quite busy with stuff after my semester ended and this fell on the back burner. But for those who are interested - better late than never - here we go!

My thesis was received quite well, and the grade it was given was the lynch pin in my efforts to qualify for masters level postgraduate study. I have since been applying and interviewing at places from all over the country, and found out the other day that I got in to my local university! So THANK YOU guys. Your support was a factor in the success of this thesis.

So, here is my attempt at conveying how the thesis went. I hope it makes sense, let me know if it doesn't! I'm leaving for Christmas vacation in a couple days and wrote this up quickly because I'm busy getting ready to leave. I just wanted to let you guys know.

Despite appearances, this write up is actually very brief, it’s possible that my explanation may leave questions unanswered. If that’s the case, please ask and I’ll do my best to answer them. You may want to refresh yourself on the top by reading my OP, however, I will do my best to summarise what the concept of my thesis was here:

Background
The project that I worked on was about the possible psycho-social influences that may affect peoples’ quality of sleep, which may ultimately impact on their health and well-being. The main influences that I investigated were the satisfaction of close relationships and adult attachment styles.

Attachment theory involves ‘attachment styles’ that are psychological processes that involve emotional bonds with an attachment figure (such as a parent) that may help shape personality and social development through infancy into adulthood. For adults, it is said that attachment styles may impact upon peoples close personal relationships, especially as people branch out and obtain new “attachment figures”, such as close friends or romantic partners. Attachment has also been shown to influence other aspects of people’s lives, such as health promoting or health risking behaviour, and of course, sleep.
As you grow up, you develop your own sort of ‘attachment style’ which is a part of your personality and how you may deal with relationships with attachment figures.

They are currently considered to come in 3 styles, which range from low-high on a continuum. ‘Avoidant attachment’ regards the fear of commitment, ‘Anxious’ attachment is a fear of abandonment. These are considered to be ‘insecure’ attachment styles. Finally, there’s ‘secure’ attachment, which is characterised by very low levels of avoidant and anxious attachment. This means you may be easy going when it comes to relationships.
We also wanted to see if these attachment styles may INDIRECTLY influence sleep quality THROUGH relationship satisfaction. In doing so, we wanted to examine whether happy relationships may offset any potential negative impact that insecure attachment styles may have on how we sleep.
This is a very lightly researched area, so the project was novel in several aspects, which is pretty neat.

A bit about the study itself:
We ended up with 511 valid participants (wow) from all over the place, which I was told broke a department record and was about as reflective of the general population as someone in my situation was going to get.
Because we had so many people, we decided to conduct further exploratory analyses based on the reported relationship status of participants. We ended up with 3 groups large enough to study. Those are: Those in committed or defacto relationships, those who are married, and those who are single.

To see if attachment styles indirectly influenced sleep, we used a mediation analysis for anyone who is familiar with this method. However, the way mediation works is that for results to occur, you need to run 3 separate analyses which all require significant results. Such as, ‘insecure attachment contributes directly to impaired sleep’. If that doesn’t happen, you don’t get cool results. I mention this because we used a new method of mediation designed by a prominent expert in mediation, which does not need prerequisite results to occur. Instead of depending on 3 separate tests, the analysis simply tests an ‘indirect effect’ and tells you whether or not mediation occurs.

Here’s what was found:
In the analysis of the overall sample, we found that, the higher someone’s level of avoidant attachment, the worse you sleep. However, anxious attachment did not appear to impact sleep. This actually fits in with the only general population study that exists, which is interesting. I’m not going to go into great detail into the discussion because there’s a lot to talk about, but in short, it’s possible that the concerns that bother people who are attachment avoidant during the day may persist into sleep and contribute to sleep dysfunction. Next, both attachment styles were found to indirectly influence sleep through relationship satisfaction. However, we did find that the happier someone’s relationship was, the less impact that their insecure attachment had on their sleep.

So, even though someone’s insecure attachment style may put a certain amount of strain on their relationship, a healthy, happy, and supportive relationship may assist in alleviating whatever attachment distress they may have, which could lead to better sleep.

In the individual relationship groups, we found that only those within romantic relationships had their sleep influenced by their attachment, and then mitigated by relationship satisfaction. We think that’s because of the proximity of romantic attachment figures, and also because romantic partners may be somewhat dependent on each other for emotional security and happiness within their relationship. This may promote a greater frequency of attachment distress, which may increase mental alertness which may impair sleep. It’s likely that those who are single, don’t have the same manner of relationship with their attachment figure, and may be responsible for their own emotional security.

A really interesting find was that greater levels of anxious attachment contributed to BETTER sleep quality for those who are married. Research has found that Marriage may have more positive elements than non-married relationships, such as support, equality, trust, etc. We think it’s possible that these positive elements may have helped ease attachment concerns as they arose, so the greater the intensity, the greater the support. This may then have contributed to better sleep.

So there you have it. What we basically found was that happy relationships help you sleep better, and can protect against other pesky psychological nuisances. So get out there, get happy!

tl;dr Happy relationships may assist in mitigating the impact that certain insecure attachment styles may have on sleep quality - but only if its a romantic relationship.


*******Thank you so much to everyone who dedicated their time to take part in the study. I really, really appreciate it. You guys are the best.******
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Coldcurse on December 19, 2013, 02:12:44 am
get some sleep morblitz, you're writing too much  :P
Title: Re: Mod (and Dev!) approved Psychology Survey for Honours Thesis - Please consider
Post by: Morblitz on December 19, 2013, 04:01:26 am
Indeed! It is time for hibernation.

System Shutdown.