Question

Research has suggested that musicians process music in the same cortical regions in which adolescents process algebra. When taking introductory algebra, will students who were enrolled in formal instrumental or choral music instruction during middle school outperform those who experienced neither of these modes of musical instruction? The sample consisted of 6026 ninth-grade students in Maryland who had completed introductory algebra. Of these, 3239 students had received formal instrumental or choral instruction during all three years of middle school, whereas the remaining students had not. Of those receiving formal musical instruction, 2818 received a passing grade on the Maryland Algebra/Data Analysis High School Assessment (HSA). In contrast, 2091 of the 2787 students not receiving musical instruction received a passing grade.

Does music make a difference?

a) Is there a significant difference in the proportions of students with and without musical instruction who receive a passing grade on the Maryland HSA? State hypotheses, find the test statistic, and use software or the bottom row of Table C to get a P-value.

b) Is this an observational study or an experiment? Why?

c) In view of your answer in part (b), carefully state your conclusions about the relationship between music instruction and success in algebra.

Answer 1