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SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

Who had the worst sleep? Male or Female.

PSYC 0103

Group Research Assignment

Group Members

Wong Yun Shi 0315225

Karen Kong Chai Ni 0315480

Muhammad Haziq bin Hj Zariful 0314131

Cassandra Wong XinYue 0313365

Wong Voon Yin 0315151

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Acknowledgement

First, we would like to express our deepest appreciation to all those who had

helped us complete this report. We would especially like to give a special gratitude

towards our lecturer, Miss Pang Chia Yee, whose contribution in stimulating

suggestions and encouragement, also helped us to coordinate our project.

We would also like to thank all the team mates, Cassandra Wong, Chloe

Wong, Karen Kong, Voon Yin and Haziq Zariful, who helped each other assemble the

parts of the report, gave useful suggestions to one another and also give their best

efforts to work on this research and report.

Last and for most, we would like to thank all the participants involved to help

us do the survey in this study for their time for without their understanding and

support towards us in completing this project, we could not complete our assignment.

Thank you.

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Table of Contents

Content Page

Acknowledgement ii

Table of Content iii

Abstract iv

Introduction v

Method 1

Participants 1

Materials/Apparatus 1

Procedure 1

Results 2-7

Discussion 9-10

References 11

Appendix 12

Appendix A: Questionnaire 12-13

Appendix B: Raw Data 14-18

Appendix C: Calculation of Data 18-22

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AbstractSleep is an essential element for a human's mental & physical growth and

development for both male and female. Through our literature searches, female has

the more problems in sleeping than male. Therefore, this study examined whether

female or male get more problems in sleeping. Questionnaires and surveys about

sleeping habits and sleeping conditions were prepared. One hundred questionnaires

were given out to the students of Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus to fill up. It is

conducted around the school from the date 10th of January to 16th of January 2014.

Besides handing questionnaire papers around the school, the survey was also

distributed online, where there were 68 people participants. The main hypothesis of

our experiment is that female have more troubles in falling asleep at night than male.

Keywords: Sleep, male, female, Problems in sleeping, sleeping habits, sleeping

conditions

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IntroductionWhat is sleep? According to the Oxford Dictionary, it is quoted as ‘a condition

of body and mind which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the

nervous system is inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and

consciousness practically suspended.’ Sleep is one of the main necessities in a

human’s life. It is a physiological and psychological requirement. A good night’s

sleep helps in retrieving memory, remembering events and to restore the energy of

one man’s body. People cannot say that everyone has a good night rest every night,

there are some people who are facing sleeping difficulties every day and most of us

have experienced trouble sleeping at one time or another. This is normal and usually

temporary, due to stress. But if sleep problems happens all the time and interfere with

your daily life, you may be suffering from sleeping disorder. The lack of quality sleep

can have a negative impact on your emotional balance, and also on your health.

So, for this assignment given by Miss Pang, researchers had decided to do a

survey on ‘Sleep’. The researchers would like to find out whether if male or female

have more troubles or problems in sleeping. From the given answers and feedback

from students based on the questionnaire and online survey, researchers can get an

answer to see either male or female have more troubles in sleeping at night. So

through this assignment, the researchers hope to find out the answers through the

questionnaire questions and online survey.

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MethodParticipants

Sixty four male and eighty one female university students participated in this study.

There were 14% of female and 16% of male below 18 years old, 69% of female and

61% of male from 18-21 years old, 7% of female and 16% of male from 22-25 years

old, 10% of female and 8% of male at 26 years old and above included in these

survey.

Materials/Apparatus

Questionnaires and online surveys were distributed for participants to fill up their

general demographic information including their type of sleeping, how often do

people have nightmares, how many hours do people sleeps a day, if the people take

daily naps and also consisted of the gender and the ages of the participants.

Questionnaires and online surveys were used because it would produce quantifiable

and reliable data. The questionnaire and online survey had standardized answers for

the participants to choose so that it makes us easy to compile answers.

Procedure

First, a hypothesis was created to conduct the research. Research method,

questionnaires and online surveys were used for data collection. Then 100 copies of

questionnaires and around 60 copies of online survey started distributed to

participants. Participants would be informed that the research was to investigate

which gender has more problem s when/before sleeping. Participants were asked to

fill up the questionnaire that consisted general demographic information of the

participants. When the survey ended, data collection and analysis would be started.

Then the final result would be evaluated and finalized. Finally, a research report

would be produced.

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Results

Among the 145 of university students participating in the questionnaire with

valid data on sleep assessment, there were 56% of the female participant and 44% of

male participant. There were 14% of female and 16% of male below 18 years old,

69% of female and 31% of male from 18-21 years old, 7% of female and 16% of male

from 22-25 years old, 10% of female and 8% of male at 26 years old and above

included in these survey.

Fig 1. Shows a histogram the overall numbers of participation of the survey

through questionnaire handling and online survey.

Through Fig. 1 , it shows that the mode of the male participant category is

between the range of 18-22 years old, while the mode for female participant between

the range of 22-25 years old.

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As for the frequency of nightmare, data were analyzed by using a line graph to

show the comparison between male and female.

Fig 2. The line graph represents the frequency of nightmares the participants of

the two sex, male & female, experienced in their sleep.

The frequency ranges are Everyday, Once a week, Once a month & Never.

There are more male who experience nightmares in their sleep everyday & once a

week compared to female. Nonetheless, there are more male who never experience

nightmares in their sleep, which has a higher difference compared to the first two

categories. The results for female participants are accumulated in the Once a Month

category which is a mode (highest point) of the graph/result.

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FREQUENCY OF NIGHTMARES FROM PARTICIPANTS

Moreover, two types of sleeping were determined through the participants.

46% of female participant considered themselves as light sleep while 54% considered

themselves as heavy sleep. Meanwhile, 33% of male participant considered

themselves as light sleep and 67% were heavy sleep.

Fig 3. Shows 2 pie charts represents the type of sleeping of both female and male.

As for their clothing while the participants are sleeping, majority of both male

and female wear their clothes while sleeping. 72% of female wears clothes while

sleeping while 28% does not. As for the male category, 41% wears their clothes while

59% of them does not.

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Fig 4. Comparison of the napping habits of male and female .

The pie charts represent the percentage of participants who answered the

question regarding daily naps. The pie charts are categorized by the answers of the

question, yes or no, separated into female and male while the people who answered

yes are represented into a larger pie chart, showing the percentage of male & female

who takes daily naps. The pie chart shows 41% of male participants take daily naps,

which is slightly more than the 37% of women. The difference of the male & female

participants who takes daily naps are small as seen in the figure, with the difference,

when combined, is only 6%.

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HOURS OF SLEEP BY PARTICIPANTS

Fig 5. Hours of sleep by participants .

Percentage of participants (%) who sleeps in the range of less than 4 hours, 4-

8 hours & more than 8 hours for the female & male target represented in a bar graph.

There are more male who sleep at the lowest category of less than 4 hours, however,

there are also more male who sleep for more than 8 hours than female. Most of the

results for female fell into the 4-8 hours of sleep category, which is still lower than

what the human body requires.

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Fig 6. The chart shows the comparison of female and male participants that

sleeps well daily.

This chart summarizes whether if they think they are sleeping well or not. The

chart is represented in a histogram & categorizes between male & female while the x-

axis represents the percentage of participants. The histogram is separated between the

answer of the question, yes or no. As seen in the figure, the line shows the difference

of the participants’ answers to the question by gradient of the line. There are more

male participants who think they are sleeping well daily compared to female

participants, however the difference is small at only 3%.

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DiscussionsThe hypothesis is that female have more problems when or before sleeping.

Based on the research that the researchers conducted, researchers have accepted the

hypothesis, however, the difference in the results from the surveys between male &

female is small. We have accepted the hypothesis since most, although not all, of the

results from the survey questions show female to have more problems when/before

sleeping than male.

One of the questions from the survey asks the participants whether they sleep

with lights on or off. The researchers' prediction is that more female would sleep with

the lights on then male, as it would be one of the evidences that prove the researchers'

hypothesis. This is because light, from light bulbs or electronic devices causes

difficulty in sleeping because of a function in our body. The body, due to natural

traits, reacts to darkness as a time for shelter and sleep. When light is present at night,

it would not only allow to body to react wrongly, but would also suppress the

production of melatonin hormones which controls sleep and wake cycles [1], causing

disruption before sleeping & might also cause the person to easily wake up, lacking

enough sleep for the body. In the survey, 25% of female sleep with lights while there

are 17% of male who do so, this proves our prediction as true.

Two other questions from the survey relates to the temperature participants

sleep on. Referenced from online Web magazine WebMD.com [2], people who sleep

on cooler temperatures either by coolers, thermostats, or lack of clothing would affect

the comfort of their sleep. This is due to the body having difficulty on achieving a set

temperature on sleeping when it’s too cold. The two questions regarding this theory

ask whether the participants sleep with or without air-conditioner & sleep with or

without clothes. 56% of male participants sleep with air-conditioner while only 35%

of female participants sleep with air-conditioner whereas 64% of male participants

sleep with clothes while 89% of female participants sleep with clothes. This implies

that male have more problems in sleeping than female when it comes to the

temperature.

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Another question from the survey asks how frequent nightmares occur towards

the female and male participants. While nightmares are already shown as a problem

when sleeping, the causes of nightmares are also problems that people face such as

sleep disorder or stress. Even though there are more male who experience nightmares

everyday and once a week compared to female, the difference is very small at 2% &

5% respectively, also taking into account that more male answered that they never

experienced nightmares. Moreover, the results for female are accumulated to the

‘Once a month’ answer (as seen in Fig 2).

The question regarding the type of sleep asks whether the participants are light

sleepers or heavy sleepers. Heavy sleepers would fall into deep sleep more easily and

would hardly react to interruptions. According to the website, Greensleep.com [3], deep

sleep is important for the human body as it has a purifying, restoring and energizing

function. Light sleepers would react to interruptions more easily such as alarm clocks

and have a higher possibility in waking up in the middle of the night than heavy

sleepers; hence, they would have a hard time reaching the deep sleep stage. Lack of

deep sleep causes tiredness, depression & weakens the immune system. Even the

causes of light sleeping are problems people face such as obstructive sleep apnea;

therefore, light sleepers experience more problems in sleeping. In the survey the

researchers had conducted, there were more female who are light sleepers while there

were more male who are heavy sleepers. This would mean female experience more

problems caused by light sleeping than male.

The researchers also asked in the survey how long, in hours, participants

would take when sleeping. Except for children (who are not conducted in the

research), teens and adults require an average of 8 hours of sleep. Obviously, when

people lack sleep, it means they have problems when sleeping (eg. depression or

anxiety) & after sleeping (eg. Excessive daytime sleepiness). In Fig 5, according to

the survey conducted, it shows that more male, at 14%, sleep less than 4 hours than

female, at 2%. However, there is also more male who sleep more than 8 hours than

female. Correspondingly, more female sleep 4-8 hours only than male, which, even

though more male sleep less than 4 hours, is still less than the required 8 hours.

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When people are deprived of sleep, when not reaching the required minimum

of 8 hours, they tend to have naps daily due to their sleep rhythm problem. A question

from the survey asks whether the participants nap daily or not. It is a follow-up

question on how long the participants sleep. Fig 4 illustrates the results taken from the

question and while there is little difference at 4%, more male take naps daily than

female.

The last question was a small summary on how well the participants think they

sleep. Fig 6 in the appendices illustrates the results of the question in a horizontal

histogram and compare the result between male and female. The figure shows a small

difference but it still remains that more female participants thought that they did not

sleep well than male.

There are a few limitations in our study however, one of such, which can be

found in every research conducted by surveys, would be how bias the participants can

be. Also, the questionnaire focuses too much on the comparison between male and

female gender without taking into account their age or work rate, different

participants from different ages might have more or less work done before sleep, for

example, the students from the School of Architecture, Building & Design have more

work than the School of Tourism, hence, they have more stress & would have

difficulty in sleeping, where they might even not have time for enough sleep. The

survey is even passed online to people who might not be from within Malaysia, for

example, students from America are less busy than students from Malaysia. Another

problem when conducting the survey is the inability to control the number of male

and female to an equal, there are more female participants than male & the results are

compared by percentage, which would be inaccurate. Regarding our questionnaire,

the answers for most of the questions are ‘yes or no’; there are no answers by range of

1-5 or multiple-choice answers. Some participants also skip questions, which causes

inaccuracy when converting the total into percentage. Other types of inaccuracy

within the survey can be how unspecific the answers are, for example, people who

sleep with lights on might use blue lights, which causes more harm to the body than

red light, and the light they use might even be small.

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References

Sio, U., Monaghan, P., & Ormerod, T. (2013). Sleep on it, but only if it is difficult:

Effects of sleep on problem solving. Memory & Cognition, 41(2), 159-166.

doi:10.3758/s13421-012-0256-7

Jain, V., Tomar, R., Jha, J., Pareek, A., Ratan, Y., & Paliwal, N. (2013). Sleep quality

and sleep associated problems in female pharmacy students. Chronicles Of

Young Scientists, 4(2), 138-143. doi:10.4103/2229-5186.115553

Short, M. A., Gradisar, M., Gill, J., & Camfferman, D. (2013). Identifying Adolescent

Sleep Problems. Plos ONE, 8(9), 1-6. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0075301

SimplyPsychology.(2011)Psychology Research Report guideline. Retrieved from

http://www.simplypsychology.org/research-report.html

Oxford dictionaries website.(2014) Definition of sleep in English. Retrieved from

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/sleep

Sociology.(2014)Survey of questionnaire. Retrieved from

http://sociology.about.com/od/research/a/surveys.htm

Cbs Boston.(2011) study finds more women have trouble sleeping than men.

Retrieved from http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/12/15/study-finds-more-

women-have-trouble- sleeping-than-men/

[1] Kresser, C. (2013). How artificial light is wrecking your sleep, and what to do

about it. [online] Retrieved from: http://chriskresser.com/how-artificial-light-

is-wrecking-your-sleep-and-what-to-do-about-it [Accessed: 19 Jan 2014].

[2] Katheleen, D. (2010). Can’t sleep? Adjust the temperature. Webmd magazine.

[3] Greensleep.com. (n.d.). Welcome to green sleep. [Online] Retrieved from:

http://www.greensleep.com/Europe/Great-Brittain/EN/seg-belang-diepe-

slaap.asp [Accessed: 19 Jan 2014].

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http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/12/15/study-finds-more-women-have-trouble-sleeping-than-men/

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/12/15/study-finds-more-women-have-trouble-sleeping-than-men/

http://sociology.about.com/od/research/a/surveys.htm

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/sleep

http://www.simplypsychology.org/research-report.html

Appendix: Questionnaire

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONSThe purpose of this survey is to study the problem of sleeping between female and male. This questionnaire is voluntary and the data that collected are strictly confidential. All participant will not be identified. Your voluntary agree to participate in this research project by filling the following questions You have the right to reject your participation. You may withdraw from this research anytime you wish.

Read the items thoroughly. This questionnaire consist of 2 pages. Please tick your response in the box as your response.

QUESTIONS1. How old are you?

Below 18 years old 18-21 years old 22-25 years old 26 and above

2. What is your sex? Male Female

3. Which school do you come from? School of Architecture, Building and Design School of Computing and IT School of Engineering The Design School Others :_____________________________________

4. Do you often sleep with light on? Yes No

5. Do you sleep with air conditional on? Yes No Depend on situation

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6. Do you have nightmares? Everyday Once a week Once a month Never

7. What is your type of sleeping? Light sleep - one easily wakened Heavy sleep - a person who sleeps deeply and is difficult to wake up

8. Do you wear clothes while sleeping? Yes No Depend on situation

9. Do you nap daily? Yes No

10. How many hours that you sleep in a day? More than 8 hours 4 - 8 hours Less than 4 hours

11. Do you think you sleep well daily? Yes No

END OF THE QUESTIONNAIRETHANKS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION

Appendix B : Raw Data

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Fig 1. Shows a histogram the overall numbers of participation of the survey

through questionnaire handling and online survey.

FREQUENCY OF NIGHTMARES FROM PARTICIPANTS

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Fig 2. The line graph represents the frequency of nightmares the participants of

the two sex, male & female, experienced in their sleep.

Fig 3. Shows 2 pie charts represents the type of sleeping of both female and male.

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Fig 4. Comparison of the napping habits of male and female .

HOURS OF SLEEP BY PARTICIPANTS

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Fig 5. Hours of sleep by participants .

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Fig 6. The chart shows the comparison of female and male participants that

sleeps well daily.

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Appendix C: Calculation of Data

Results of questionnaire Calculation in Percentage (%) (online survey)

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FEMALE MALE

Q1 how old are you? 1=below 18 , 2=18-21 , 3=22-25 , 4=26 above Q1 how old are you? 1=below 18 , 2=18-21 , 3=22-25 , 4=26 above

Q1 answer N percent Q1 answer N percent1 3 7% 1 4 17%2 34 77% 2 15 62%3 5 11% 3 4 17%4 2 5% 4 1 4%

total 44 100% total 24 100%

Q2 do you often sleep with light on? 1=yes , 2=no Q2 do you often sleep with light on? 1=yes , 2=no

Q2 answer n percent Q2 answer n percent1 9 20% 1 2 8%2 35 80% 2 22 92%

total 44 100% total 24 100%

Q3 do you sleep with air-con on? 1=yes ,2=no , 3=depend on situation Q3 do you sleep with air-con on? 1=yes ,2=no , 3=depend on situation

Q3 ans n percent Q3 ans n percent1 13 30% 1 14 58%2 10 23% 2 2 8%3 21 47% 3 8 33%

total 44 100% total 24 100%

Q4 do u have nightmares? 1=everyday , 2=once a week , 3=once a month, 4= never Q4 do u have nightmares? 1=everyday , 2=once a week , 3=once a month, 4= never

Q4 ans n percent Q4 ans n percent1 3 7% 1 2 8%2 13 30% 2 10 42%3 23 52% 3 7 29%4 5 11% 4 5 21%

total 44 100% total 24 100%

Q5 what is ur types of sleep? 1=light sleep , 2=heavy sleep Q5 what is ur types of sleep? 1=light sleep , 2=heavy sleep

Q5 ans n percent Q5 ans n percent1 23 52% 1 11 46%2 21 48% 2 13 54%

total 44 100% total 24 100%

Q6 do u wear cloth while sleeping? 1=yes , 2=no , 3=depend on situation Q6 do u wear cloth while sleeping? 1=yes , 2=no , 3=depend on situation


total 44 100% total 24 100%

Q7 do u nap daily? 1=yes , 2=no Q7 do u nap daily? 1=yes , 2=no


total 44 100% total 24 100%

Q8 how many hours that’s you sleep in a day? 1=more than 8 , 4-8 , less than 4 Q8 how many hours that’s you sleep in a day? 1=more than 8 , 4-8 , less than 4


total 44 100% total 24 100%

Q9 do u think u sleep well daily? 1=yes , 2=no Q9 do u think u sleep well daily? 1=yes , 2=no


total 44 100% total 24 100%

Results of questionnaire calculation in percentage (%) (survey form)

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Female Male

Q1 how old are you? 1=below 18 , 2=18-21 , 3=22-25 , 4=26 above

Q1 ans n percent Q1 answer N percent1 8 22% 1 6 15%2 22 59% 2 24 60%3 1 3% 3 6 15%4 6 16% 4 4 10%

total 37 100% total 40 100%


Q2 ans n percent Q2 answer n percent1 11 30% 1 9 23%2 26 70% 2 31 78%

total 37 100% total 40 100%

Q3 do you sleep with air-con on? 1=yes , 2=no , 3=depend on situation Q3 do you sleep with air-con on? 1=yes ,2=no , 3=depend on situation


total 37 100% total 40 100%

Q4 do you have nightmares? 1=everyday , 2=once a week , 3=once a month , 4=never Q4 do you have nightmares? 1=everyday , 2=once a week , 3=once a month, 4= never

Q4 ans n percent Q4 ans n percent1 0 0 1 2 5%2 8 22% 2 10 25%3 22 59% 3 16 40%4 7 19% 4 12 30%

total 37 100% total 40 100%

Q5 what is your types of sleep? 1=light sleep , 2=heavy sleep Q5 what is your types of sleep? 1=light sleep , 2=heavy sleep


total 37 100% total 40 100%

Q6 do you wear cloth while you are sleeping? 1=yes, 2=no , 3=depend on situation Q6 do you wear cloth while sleeping? 1=yes , 2=no , 3=depend on situation


total 37 100% total 40 100%

Q7 do you nap daily? 1=yes , 2=no Q7 do you nap daily? 1=yes , 2=no


total 37 100% total 40 100%

Q8 how many hours that’s you sleep in a day? 1=more than 8 , 2=4-8 , 3=less than 4 Q8 how many hours that’s you sleep in a day? 1=more than 8 , 4-8 , less than 4


total 37 100% total 40 100%

Q9 do you think you sleep well daily? 1=yes, 2=no Q9 do you think you sleep well daily? 1=yes , 2=no


total 37 100% total 40 100%

Results of Overall Calculation of Percentage (%) (Online Survey + Normal Survey)

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Female Male

Q1 how old are you? 1=below 18 , 2=18-21 , 3=22-25 , 4=26 above Q1 how old are you? 1=below 18 , 2=18-21 , 3=22-25 , 4=26 above

Q1 ans n percent Q1 answer N percent1 11 14% 1 10 16%2 56 69% 2 39 61%3 6 7% 3 10 16%4 8 10% 4 5 8%

total 81 100% total 64 100%


Q2 ans n percent Q2 answer n percent1 20 25% 1 11 17%2 61 75% 2 53 83%

total 81 100% total 64 100%

Q3 do you sleep with air-con on? 1=yes , 2=no , 3=depend on situation Q3 do you sleep with air-con on? 1=yes ,2=no , 3=depend on situation


total 81 100% total 64 100%

Q4 do you have nightmares? 1=everyday , 2=once a week , 3=once a month , 4=neverQ4 do you have nightmares? 1=everyday , 2=once a week , 3=once a month, 4= never

Q4 ans n percent Q4 ans n percent1 3 4% 1 4 6%2 21 26% 2 20 31%3 45 56% 3 23 36%4 12 15% 4 17 27%

total 81 100% total 64 100%

Q5 what is your types of sleep? 1=light sleep , 2=heavy sleep Q5 what is your types of sleep? 1=light sleep , 2=heavy sleep


total 81 100% total 64 100%

Q6 do you wear cloth while you are sleeping? 1=yes, 2=no , 3=depend on situationQ6 do you wear cloth while sleeping? 1=yes , 2=no , 3=depend on situation


total 81 100% total 64 100%

Q7 do you nap daily? 1=yes , 2=no Q7 do you nap daily? 1=yes , 2=no


total 81 100% total 64 100%

Q8 how many hours that’s you sleep in a day? 1=more than 8 , 2=4-8 , 3=less than 4Q8 how many hours that’s you sleep in a day? 1=more than 8 , 4-8 , less than 4


total 81 100% total 64 100%

Q9 do you think you sleep well daily? 1=yes, 2=no Q9 do you think you sleep well daily? 1=yes , 2=no


total 81 100% total 64 100%

FEMALE MALE

MODE MODEQ1 56 18-21 Yrs Q1 39 18-21 yrsQ2 61 no Q2 53 noQ3 35 depend on situation Q3 36 yesQ4 45 once a month Q4 23 once a monthQ5 46 light sleep Q5 33 light sleepQ6 72 yes Q6 41 yesQ7 51 no Q7 38 noQ8 63 4-8 hrs Q8 35 4-8 hrsQ9 42 yes Q9 35 Yes

Table 1 shows mode of the overall survey (Online and Qustionnaire)

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