A Quantitative Study on the Relationship between Listening to Music while

Studying and Math Scores

A Statistical Analysis Paper Presented to

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
Far Eastern University High School

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements in Statistics and Probability

by:
Buenaventura, Denzell O.
Caldito, Crissean Jamila S.
Jazmin, China Mariz G.
Kho, Geri Ann Ysabelle P.
Mondalo, Stefanie B.
Nepomuceno, Trisha Coleen N.
Umali, Louzen L.

Grade 11 – STEM 19

March 12, 2019

 Statistics and Probability
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page i
Table of Contents ii
List of Tables/Figures iii

1. Introduction and Rationale page no. 4

1.1
1.2

2. Problem and Hypothesis page no. 6

2.1
2.2

3. Data Analysis page no. 7

3.1
3.2

4. Summary of Findings, Conclusions, and page no. 11

Recommendations
4.1.
4.2.
4.3
References page no. 13

Appendices
Appendix A: Permit to Conduct Research page no. 14
Appendix B: Sample Questionnaire page no. 15
Appendix C: Sample Answered Questionnaire (if applicable) page no. 17

2
 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.2.1 T-Test of Unequal Variances Summary page no. 8

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1.1 Pie Chart of the results of students who listen to music while
studying
page no. 7

Figure 4.2.2 Graph of T-Test of unequal variances page no. 9

3
 Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE
1.1 INTRODUCTION

What do you know about Music? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary,

Music is the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination,

and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity

(Music, n.d.). In our generation today, Music is a widespread trend because of its

influence towards the target market of most products and companies which are the

teenagers or what we also call the “Millenials”. According to ifpi.org, Young people are

highly engaged with music, with 82% of 13-15 year-olds listening to licensed music and

the majority willing to pay for music (IFPI, 2016). Which means that these so called

“Millenials” are active in the music industry where they are even willing to pay for music.

But do we really know what music is? Currently, there have been many researches

being made which is all about Music and its’ effect in studying. Does it really have an

effect towards studying? Is it positive effects or negative ones? These questions were

answered by some researches that was made.

According to seattlepi, they conducted a survey in which 53 percent of teens 12

to 17 do something else while studying. At 87 percent, listening to music was the most

popular side activity for those who balanced studying with another activity (Miller, 2019).

And as we know about the effects of music in studying, there is an already existing

theory that we call as “Mozart Effect”. Mozart Effect is a theory that was developed by

Dr. Gordon Shaw which discusses that listening to classical music will make you

4
smarter, in the early 1990s. One British claims that listening to 10 minutes to Mozart

produced test takers that has their IQ Score 8-9 points higher than their original IQ

Score (Fowers, n.d.). Due to the controversial “Mozart Effect”, most studies regarding

music and studying were all about positive effects that music brings to studying, which

must not be the case. In our case, we are trying to find the relationship between the use

of music while studying and math exam scores.

1.2 RATIONALE

Most researches and past studies claim that listening to music while studying has

positive effects on the student’s grades. Majority also talked about the effects of

listening to classical music while studying, which disregards other genre of music. This

quantitative research revolves around the effects of listening to any genre of music and

its relation to the scores of the chosen participants. The researchers also chose this

topic in order to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of studying while listening to

music and the grades that the student participants received in their Statistics and

Probability course. This paper also aims to determine if listening to music while studying

affects their grade positively or negatively. This quantitative research will also determine

on what music genre do most students listen to while they are studying. Lastly, since

this is a quantitative research, it will also focus more on the numerical data, specifically

the score results of the students.

5
 Chapter 2

PROBLEM AND HYPOTHESIS

2.1 Statement of the Problem

Studying is a common activity for students and each student have their own

study spaces and situations. Some students are comfortable with study spaces that

includes some type of background noise like music, but some of the students are not

comfortable with this type of study spaces and situations. Listening to music while

studying helps students improved their cognitive learning especially when reading.

However, it can be a distraction for others. This statistical paper will help to know what

the pros and cons are of listening to music while studying. Also, it will help to conclude if

studying with music is helpful or not.

This statistical paper sought answers to the following questions:

1. What are the Positive Effects of music to studying especially math and its effects

to math exam scores?

2. What are the Negative Effects of music to studying especially math and its effects

to math exam scores?

3. Does studying with music have no effect especially in math and to math exam

scores?

In relation to this, the researchers made a null and alternative hypothesis regarding

the relationship between the use of music and studying & math scores.

Ho: Listening to music while studying does not affect studies and math scores.

Ha: Listening to music while studying affects studies and math scores.

6
 Chapter 3

DATA ANALYSIS

This chapter deals with the presentation, analysis and interpretation of data

gathered by the researchers. The answers of the respondents to the exam and survey

questionnaires pertains to the relationship between studying with music and Math exam

scores of Senior High School STEM students in Far Eastern University—Manila.

1. Presentation of Data

The researchers conducted a survey with 30 respondents, who are Grade 11-

STEM 19 students, about listening to music while studying and other related

questions to this topic.

Students who
listen to music
while studying

Yes
43% No

57%

FIGURE 3.1.1- PIE CHART OF THE RESULTS OF STUDENTS WHO LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE
STUDYING

7
 According to the survey, there are seventeen (17) respondents who responded yes

and thirteen (13) respondents who responded no to the question, “Do you listen to

music while studying?” The survey shows that out of 30 respondents, 53.3% of the

respondents listens to music while studying, while 46.7% does not listen to music while

studying, this shows that majority of the respondents which we conducted the survey on

listens to music while studying.

The researchers also conducted other questions related to the topic which is

listening to music while studying. There are 3 options per question, which is yes, no, or

neutral. Majority of the respondents, which are 43.3%, listen to the genre pop music. It

was also shown that 60% of the respondents are not comfortable listening to music

while studying which has the same percentage to the respondents who have not

improved concentration due to listening to music. 66.7% of the respondents do not

understand the lesson they are taking while listening to music which is same with the

respondents who do not analyze the reviewer easier due to music. 56.7% of them are

disturbed when they study and listen to music which are likewise with respondents who

were bothered by studying while listening to music at all. 80% of the respondents do not

think that they get higher scores due to listening to music.

Hypothesis Test

This research will be conducting a T-Test Two Samples of Unequal Variances. This

will show the results of the t-test whether the null hypothesis would be accepted or

rejected.

8
t-test: Two Sample of Unequal Variances
Variable 1 Variable 2

with Music without Music

Mean 28.24 31.08
Standard Deviation 7.8782089633741 7.6644366879497
Observations 17 13
Hypothesized Mean Difference 0 0
P-value (two tailed) 0.3296

TABLE 3.2.1 T-TEST OF UNEQUAL VARIANCES SUMMARY

T-TEST TWO SAMPLE FOR UNEQUAL VARIANCES

In this table is the summary of results of the T-Test Two Sample for

Unequal Variances, between studying with music and without music with a

significance level of α=0.05. As shown in Figure 3.2.1, The Variable 1

represents the students who listened to music while studying. While the

Variable 2 represents the students, who study without music.

Curve Legend
Normal Curve

2-sided
alternative

Less than
alternative
Greater than alternative

Test statistic

Figure 4.2.2 GRAPH OF T-TEST OF UNEQUAL VARIANCES

9
-3 -2.25 -1.5 -0.75 0 0.75 1.5 2.25 3
As shown in the graph, the test statistic falls inside the two-sided alternative. This

means that there is no enough evidence that the null hypothesis is false. The test also

resulted to a P-value of 0.3293 with a significance level of α=0.05. Seeing that the P-

value is more than the significance level, the null hypothesis will be accepted. So, this

tells that, there is no significant difference to Math scores of senior high school students

who listen to music while studying and to those who do not.

10
 Chapter 4
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 Findings

All of the students that answered the survey were from Grade 11-STEM 19 of Far

Eastern University Senior High School and their age varies from 16-19 years old. More

than half of them, which are 16, are males while the other half, which was 14, are

females. The following are the findings that we have gathered from the analysis: Most

students listen to music while studying and the genre that they mostly listen to is the

pop music. The majority is not comfortable, disturbed, cannot analyze the reviewer

easier, bothered, and do not think that they get higher scores when they listen to music

while studying. There are no relationship between use of music while studying and math

exam scores.

4.2 Conclusion

The result of the students who listens to music while studying shows that there

are no relationship between use of music while studying and math exam scores. The

11
scores were based on the scores acquired in Statistics and Probability Midterm Exam.

Based on the data analysis, the test statistic falls inside the two-sided alternative. The p-

value, 0.3293, was more than the significance level; hence, the null hypothesis will be

accepted which states that listening to music while studying does not affect studies and

math scores.

4.3 Recommendations

Recommendations are important for a study. They are the research’s benefits

that are to be recommended to others. The purpose of this study is to examine the

relationship of between the use of music while studying and math exam scores.

To the teachers, the researcher’s recommend the teachers to give guidance to

the students that are having a hard time in their studies and that they do not have to rely

on music while studying in order to increase their grades.

To the parents, the researcher’s recommend the parents to monitor their

children to focus more on studying, and have less distraction when they analyze

reviewers or review for the exams so that they may have improved performances.

To the classmates, the researcher’s recommend the classmates to converse

with their classmate to know if they rely on music to increase their scores, and convince

them that it is not reliable.

To the future researchers, the researcher’s recommend the future researchers

to have a better understanding and profounder knowledge of the relationship between

12
the use of music while studying and math exam scores. This study can effectively serve

as a necessary reference to the future study.

REFERENCES

Davis, N. (2019). “Is it Good to Listen to Music While Studying?”. Retrieved from
https://study.com/academy/popular/is-it-good-to-listen-to-music-while-
studying.html

Fowers, C. (2019). “The Mozart Effect: A Sound Theory?”. Retrieved from

https://www.toptenreviews.com/software/articles/the-mozart-effect/

Maskell, P. (2016). “Music Consumer Insight Report 2016”. Retrieved from

https://www.ifpi.org/downloads/Music-Consumer-Insight-Report-2016.pdf

Miller, R. (2019). “The Effects of Music on a Student’s Schoolwork”. Retrieved from

https://education.seattlepi.com/effects-music-students-schoolwork-2153.html

Music. (n.d.) In Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary. Retrieved from

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/music

13
 Appendix A
PERMIT TO CONDUCT RESEARCH

March 11, 2019

Mr. Joseph Batas

Far Eastern University High School

Nicanor Reyes St, Sampaloc, Manila, 1008 Metro Manila

Good day Mr. Batas,

We are Grade 11 students from Far Eastern University High School under the
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics strand taking Statistics and
Probability for this 2nd semester.

As part for our requirement on the said subject, we are tasked to create a
statistical analysis paper and conduct a research about a given topic. This study to be
created is to expose us on how to apply the lessons we have learned into a research
paper.

We humbly request to allow us to conduct a research and survey the students of

Far Eastern Universty High School about our research titled “A Quantitative Study on

14
the Relationship between Listening to Music while Studying and Math Scores”. We
would genuinely appreciate if you permit us to do conduct the research.

If you have any questions regarding the research, here is the number and email
you may contact [email protected]/09260046996. We pray for your favorable
response.

We hope for your kind consideration. Thank you and may God bless you.

Sincerely,

China Mariz G. Jazmin

Group Leader

Appendix B
SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

Relationship between the use of music and studying & math scores
This survey aims to know the relationship between the use of music and studying & math scores.

First Name
_______________________

Last Name
_______________________

What genre of music do you mostly often listen to?

o Pop
o Classical
o Rap
o Rock
o Jazz
o Reggae
o Instrumental

15
 o Pop Rock
o Contemporary R&B
o Other….

I listen to music while studying

o Yes
o No

I am comfortable listening to music while studying

o Yes
o No
Listening to music improved my concentration in studying.
o Yes
o No

I understand the lessons I’m taking in while listening to music.

o Yes
o No

I am not disturbed when I study and listen to music at the same time.
o Yes
o No

Listening to music helps me analyze the reviewer easier.

o Yes
o No

Studying with music wasn’t bothering me at all.

o Yes
o No

16
My scores in quizzes or exams get higher when I review/study while listening to
music.
o Yes
o No

I recommend listening to music while studying.

o Yes
o No

Appendix C
SAMPLE ANSWERED QUESTIONNAIRE

Relationship between the use of music and studying & math scores
This survey aims to know the relationship between the use of music and studying & math scores.

First Name
_____Camille_____

Last Name
_____Rodolfo_____

What genre of music do you mostly often listen to?

• Pop
o Classical
o Rap
o Rock
o Jazz
o Reggae
o Instrumental

17
 o Pop Rock
o Contemporary R&B
o Other….

I listen to music while studying

• Yes
o No
I am comfortable listening to music while studying
• Yes
o No
Listening to music improved my concentration in studying.
• Yes
o No

I understand the lessons I’m taking in while listening to music.

• Yes
o No

I am not disturbed when I study and listen to music at the same time.
• Yes
o No

Listening to music helps me analyze the reviewer easier.

• Yes
o No

Studying with music wasn’t bothering me at all.

• Yes
o No

18
My scores in quizzes or exams get higher when I review/study while listening to
music.
• Yes
o No

I recommend listening to music while studying.

• Yes
o No

19