Assessment 1 – Basics of Research and Statistics, Frequency Distributions, Percentiles, and Graphical Representations
Complete the following problems within this Word document. Do not submit other files. Show your work for problem sets that require calculations. Ensure that your answer to each problem is clearly visible. You may want to highlight your answer or use a different type color to set it apart.
Problem Set 1.1: Identifying Variables (Dependent, Independent, Quasi-Independent)
Criterion: Identify dependent and independent variables.
Instructions: For the following list of examples, identify the dependent variable and independent (or quasi-independent) variable.
1. A researcher tests whether cocaine use increases impulsive behavior in a sample of cocaine-dependent and cocaine-inexperienced mice.
Independent Variable: ________
Quasi-Independent Variable: ________
Dependent Variable: ________
2. A professor tests whether students perform better on a multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank test format.
Independent Variable: ________
Quasi-Independent Variable: ________
Dependent Variable: ________
3. A researcher tests whether smoking by parents influences children’s attitudes toward smoking behavior.
Independent Variable: ________
Quasi-Independent Variable: ________
Dependent Variable: ________
4. A social scientist tests whether attitudes toward morality differ based on political affiliation (Democrat or Republican).
Independent Variable: ________
Quasi-Independent Variable: ________
Dependent Variable: ________
5. A cultural researcher tests whether individuals from different cultures share or differ in the belief that dreams have meaning.
Independent Variable: ________
Quasi-Independent Variable: ________
Dependent Variable: ________
Problem Set 1.2: Understanding Sample and Population
Criterion: Describe the relationship between population and sample.
Instructions: Read the following and answer the question.
Height and educational attainment: Szklarska, Koziel, Bielicki, and Malina (2007) hypothesized that taller young men are more likely to move up the scale of educational attainment compared with shorter individuals from the same social background. They recruited 91,373 nineteen-year-old men to participate in the study.
Do these participants most likely represent a sample or population? Explain.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Problem Set 1.3: SPSS Enter Data
Criterion: Enter and display data in SPSS.
Instructions: Use the supplied data to complete Steps 1–8.
Data: Five social media users spent the following number of minutes viewing Twitter:
15.21, 46.18, 12.45, 65.486, 26.852.
Steps:
1. Open SPSS.
2. Click New DataSet in the New Files area and then click Open.
3. Click the Variable View tab at the bottom.
4. In the cell under Name, type Minutes.
5. The variable of Minutes is continuous. In the Decimals column, type 2.
6. Click on the Data View tab at the bottom of the screen.
7. Enter data in the column labeled Minutes.
8. Take a screenshot of your data in SPSS and paste it below.
Problem Set 1.4.a: Grouped or Ungrouped
Criterion: Explain the identification of types of data.
Instruction: Fill in the table below. For each example, state whether it is grouped or ungrouped and why.
Example
Grouped or Ungrouped
Why
The time (in seconds) it takes 100 children to complete a cognitive skills game.
The number of single mothers with 1, 2, 3, or 4 children.
The number of teenagers who have experimented with smoking (yes, no).
The age (in years) of freshman students in a local college.
Problem Set 1.4.b: Understanding Descriptive and Interferential Statistics
Criterion: Explain the identification of types of data.
Instructions: Read the following and answer the question.
Gun ownership in the United States: Data from Gallup polls over a 40-year period show how gun ownership in the United States has changed. The results are described in the table below, with the percentage of Americans who own guns given in each of 5 decades:
Year
%
1972
43
1982
42
1992
48
2002
40
2012
43
Source: Reported at http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/Guns.aspx
1. Are the percentages reported here an example of descriptive statistics or interferential statistics? _____________________________________________________________
2. Based on the percentages given in the table, how has gun ownership in the United States changed over the past 40 years? ______________________________________________________________________
Problem Set 1.5: Reading a Chart
Criterion: Locate data on a chart.
Instructions: Read the following and answer the questions.
Participant Characteristics
Count
Type
Token
Sex
Women
Men
Unknown
24,541
23,617
479
878,261
751,188
927
Total
1,630,376
- Do men or women in this sample speak more words overall (Token Count)? _______________
- Do men or women in this sample speak more different words (Type Count)? _______________
Problem Set 1.6: Frequencies and Percents
Criterion: Identify frequencies and percents.
Instructions: State whether a cumulative frequency, relative frequency, relative percent, cumulative relative frequency, or cumulative percent is most appropriate for describing the following situations. For cumulative distributions, indicate whether these should be summarized from the top down or from the bottom up.
Data:
1. The frequency of businesses with at least 20 employees: ____________
2. The frequency of college students with less than a 3.0 GPA: ____________
3. The percentage of women completing 1, 2, 3, or 4 tasks simultaneously: ____________
4. The proportion of pregnancies performed in public or private hospitals: ____________
5. The percentage of alcoholics with more than 2 years of substance abuse: ____________
Problem Set 1.7: Understanding Percentages
Criterion: Identify distribution type and number of people.
Instructions: Read the following and answer the questions.
Perceptions of same-sex marriage: In June 2016, a CBS News poll asked a sample of adults worldwide whether it should be legal or not legal for same-sex couples to marry (reported at http://www.pollingreport.com). The opinions of adults worldwide were as follows: 58%, legal; 33%, not legal; and 9%, unsure/no answer.
1. What type of distribution is this? __________________________
2. Knowing that 1,280 adults were polled nationwide, how many Americans polled felt that same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry? __________________________
Problem Set 1.8: Create an Ascending Frequency Table in SPSS
Criterion: Create an ascending frequency table in SPSS.
Instructions: Complete the following steps.
Data: The number of clicks per hour in forty different tweets: 1, 0, 8, 5, 2, 1, 8, 2, 0, 2, 6, 8, 7, 2, 0, 2, 7, 4, 6, 9, 3, 2, 9, 6, 9, 7, 5, 8, 8, 8, 9, 6, 5, 4, 8, 4, 5, 8, 5, 7
1. Open SPSS.
2. Click New Dataset in the New Files area and then click Open.
3. Click on the Variable View tab.
4. In the cell under Name, type Clicks.
5. The variable of Clicks is discrete, so enter 0 in the Decimals column.
6. Click on the Data View tab at the bottom of the screen.
7. Enter all 40 numbers from from the dataset of number of clicks per hour in the column labeled Clicks.
8. In the Toolbar, click Analyze, select Descriptive Statistics, and then select Frequencies.
9. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the right side of the table.
10. Click OK. Copy and paste the ascending values frequency table into the Word document.
11. Go back to Data View, click Analyze, select Descriptive Statistics, and then select Frequencies.
Note: Your answers to this problem set should be two separate SPSS outputs. Save your Clicks data to use in the next two problems.
Problem Set 1.9: Construct a Bar Graph in SPSS
Criterion: Construct a bar graph in SPSS.
Instructions: The Clicks data from Problem Set 1.10 is discrete. Complete the following steps to create a bar chart to examine the data:
1. Go back to your SPSS Statistics Data Editor where your Clicks data should be displayed.
2. In the Toolbar, click Graphs, select Legacy Dialogs, and then select Bar.
3. Click Simple, then select Define. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the Category Axis box.
4. Click OK. Copy and paste the bar graph below. (Hint: You might need to use Copy Special and click the .jpeg option.)
5. Optional to answer: What is the shape of the distribution?
Problem Set 1.10: Construct a Pie Chart in SPSS
Criterion: Construct a pie chart in SPSS.
Instructions: Complete the following steps to create a pie chart to examine the attendance data from Problem Set 1.10.
1. Go back to your SPSS Statistics Data Editor where your clicks data should be displayed.
2. Select Data View, click Graphs, select Legacy Dialogs, and then select Pie.
3. Click Summaries for groups of case and then select Define. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the Define Slices By box.
4. Click OK. Copy and paste the pie graph below.
