as not conducted using samples of seriously obese, middle-aged white females. Therefore, the examination of the relation of these effects to selected demographic factors constitutes an investigation of whether established findings generalize to the seriously obese, middle-aged, white female population. The research problem can be understood as an attempt to test several research hypotheses. Since weight-gain and the effects of weight gain as they relate to demographics of seriously obese, pre-menopausal, middle-aged white females has not been much researched, the existing literature provides no firm foundation for the formulation of directional hypotheses. For this reason, all of the hypotheses that were tested in the study were formulated as null hypotheses. These null hypotheses can be delineated as follows:
Null Hypothesis 1 - The amount of weight gain since age 30 will not be found to significantly differ as a function of differences in subjects' marital status, birth-order, educational background, yearly income, past history of weight problems, or age.
Null Hypothesis 2 - The degree to which sample subjects experience each of the investigated effects of weight gain will not be found to significantly differ as a function of differences in subjects' marital status, birth-order, educational background, yearly income, past history of weight problems, or age.
One important point to note about the just delineated null hypotheses is that they are multiple (combinatory) hypotheses. This means that for each stated hypotheses, several comparison statistical analyses had to be conducted. For example, for Null Hypothesis 2 to be fully tested, it was necessary to conduct a statistical comparative analysis examining for differences in each of the effects of weight gain studied (a minimum of 14 were explored) as a function of differences in each of the investigated demographic...