Food in Society 2012/13
1
Food Choice Study
Aim
To collect data using a validated questionnaire on the individual reasons people choose to eat what they eat [‘Motivations to Eat Scale’ (Jackson et al., 2003)]; to code and enter the data into SPSS; to conduct a simple statistical analysis using SPSS; to report the results in the form of a short research paper.
The ‘Motivations to Eat Scale’ is based on a four-category model originally developed to explain motivations for drinking alcohol. The four motivational categories are coping (with negative emotions), social (eating occasions), compliance (with expectations for what others think you should do), and pleasure (sensory pleasure of eating food). The scale contains 20 reasons (items/questions, 5 items/motivational category) that ask the respondent about the frequency of eating for each of the reasons on a 5-point scale, where 1 means ‘almost never/never’ and 5 means ‘almost always/always’. The paper that describes the development and validation of the scale can be downloaded from the Reading List in the module on Unilearn.
Method
Each student will complete the ‘Motivations to Eat Scale’ in class and then get 5 other people to also complete the questionnaire. Female students should get 2 female and 3 male respondents and male students should get 2 male and 3 female respondents. This will give us a sample with equal numbers of women and men. So that we can also look at the influence of age, 2 respondents should be from each of three age categories i.e. including you, 2 respondents will be aged 18 – 38 years, 2 will be aged 39 – 59 years, and 2 will be aged 60 – 80 years. We should end up with a sample size of 162 respondents (27 students x 6 questionnaires); 81 females, 81 males; 54/age group.
When you have collected your data, download the SPSS data file from Unilearn and enter your 6 questionnaires. Make sure you save this file. Email it to Jane by midday Monday 4th February at the latest. Jane will collate the results and produce one SPSS file containing the data for the whole sample, which she will upload to Unilearn. Please take care to enter your data correctly and email it by the deadline.
The session on Tuesday 5th February will be in a computer lab. You will download the complete SPSS file from Unilearn. We will look at the internal reliability of the scale by calculating Cronbach’s alpha, we will calculate total and category scores, and we will compare scores between groups using appropriate statistical tests.
You will write-up the results of this food choice study in the form of a short research paper, as you did for Assignment 3, with the following sections: Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, References.
Food Choice Study Report
The word limit for the report is 2000 words (+10%). I will stop marking at 2200 words; therefore, there is nothing to be gained by exceeding the word limit. I will not deduct marks if you write substantially less than the word limit. However, if you write a lot less than 2000 words, it is likely that you won’t have considered the subject in sufficient depth or breadth, resulting in a lower mark. This does not mean you should write lots of waffle to get your word count up to 2000 words. Rather, to get the best mark you can, you should be aiming to edit your report down to 2000 words (+10%). Please note: your reference list and words in tables are not counted as part of the word limit, but in-text citations and headings are counted. If you put words into tables inappropriately to ‘get around’ the word limit, these words will be counted as part of the word limit.
SIF2012 Food in Society 2012/13 – Assignment 2 Hand-out
2
Introduction (20%)
The introduction should consider the main factors that influence food choice on an individual level and be supported by evidence. Finish with your aim(s).
Method (20%)
The method section should give sufficient detail that someone else could repeat your study based on what you’ve written.
Results (25%)
Calculate total score and subdomain scores, evaluate the internal reliability of the ‘Motivations to Eat Scale’ using Crohnbach’s alpha. Conduct appropriate statistical tests and present the results correctly. Please do not paste output from SPSS into your report. Make sure that any tables or figures you have included have titles and that you refer to them in the text (before you present them).
Discussion (25%)
Compare your results with those from other studies that have used this scale. Discuss your results with reference to relevant literature on factors that influence food choice. Consider the limitations of your research.
References (5%)
Cite your sources of information using Harvard style. Include a correctly formatted reference list. This should be on a separate page after the Discussion and have the heading References. Please use the official University of Huddersfield guide ).
Presentation (5%)
Your report should be double spaced, with 3cm margins and a font size of 12. Pages should be numbered. You must have a title page with your name and student number and the title of the assignment, module name and module code. Please also include the word count on the title page. Don’t forget to check your spellings and proof-read carefully before you submit.
Submission
Your assignment should be submitted via Turnitin by midnight Tuesday 19th March 2013.
Jackson B, Cooper ML, Mintz L & Albino A. (2003). Motivations to eat: scale development and validation. Journal of Research in Personality 37: 297-318.

 

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