I need some help....

In my study I am doing a comparison of the dual effects of media and society on abnormal eating behaviour in men and women.

My participants will be asked to complete some questionnaires (Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire / The Body Comparison Scale and the Eating Attitudes Test-26).

I plan to compare the differences between males and females on these questionnaires. I am a little confused as to what my Independent variable and dependent variable will be.

I was thinking my DV would be gender and the IVs will be the questionnaire scores?

Can somebody help me on this?

My other query is the statistical test I should use? Possibly regression?
Apologies if I am being a bit grey!

Thanks

First of all, you need to narrow your terms down. From your questionnaires, you seem to be measuring personal attitudes, which in turn are influenced by the media and society.

I see an attitude toward eating scale, but no actual measure of "abnormal eating behavior." What is abnormal eating behavior? How do you define it?

You need to determine what your hypothesis is. This will determine your independent and dependent variables...and what statistical tests you will use.

If your IV and DV are as described, your hypothesis might be something like, "There are gender differences in body image and eating attitudes." It might be made more specific by hypothesizing the directions of these differences.

I hope this helps. If you have more questions once you have developed your hypothesis, please repost as a response to this post. Thanks for asking.

Thank you for your help. I have changed my methodology slightly. I am planning on comparing males on females on my measures using a MANOVA (I will be clued up on this in my lecture soon!). I've come up with some hypothesis which my tutor is happy with and re-worked my title for the project.

I had a look into the EAT-26 test, although it has attitudes in it, some of the questions do relate to behavious an individual may carry out. Never-the-less the title has been re-worked!

Thanks again for your time!

You're welcome! I'm glad I could help you with your methodology. It's great that you have decided to use a MANOVA to compare males and females on your measures. MANOVA (Multivariate Analysis of Variance) is a statistical technique that allows you to analyze multiple dependent variables at the same time and compare groups on those variables.

Regarding the EAT-26 test, it's good that you have reviewed it and made sure it is in line with your research focus. As long as the questions in the EAT-26 are relevant to the behaviors you are studying, it can still be a suitable measure for your study.

Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any more questions or need further assistance. Good luck with your project!