English Check Your Understanding Read the essay: (NB: the essay is attached for you) “Perspectives: Improving Race Relations One Journalism Class at a Time” by Breea C. Willingham (pp. 572-574) Once you have read that essay, please complete the following: 1. Summarize the author’s essay and the author’s main argument. 2. What support does the author provide to defend his/her argument? 3. In your opinion, does the author present a strong argument?  Please explain why or why not. As with any writing assignment, you must provide strong responses to each question.  One sentence does not constitute a strong response.  Also, you should supply examples from the essay to help support your responses. Correlation between Alcoholism and Parental Abuse Research and Evaluation FP6030 December 16, 2015 Dr. Palmisano Running head: CORRELATION BETWEEN ALCOHOLISM AND PARENTA ABUSE 1 CORRELATION BETWEEN ALCOHOLISM AND PARENTA ABUSE 2 Correlation between Alcoholism and Parental Abuse Hypothetical Statements N.B: The research question has been revised to “What is the relationship between alcoholism and parental abuse?” The null hypothesis (H0): Children living with alcoholics are less likely to develop risky behaviors than children living with non-alcoholics (percentage of children living with alcoholics are less likely to develop risky behaviors< 82.2%). Alternative Hypothesis (HA): Children living with alcoholics are likely to develop risky behaviors than children living with non-alcoholics (percentage of children living with alcoholics are likely to develop risky behaviors =82. 2%). Reasons for Using Null Hypothesis in a Research Many research materials use the null hypothesis statistical testing despite some reservations on its effectiveness. Levine et al. (2008) point out that null hypothesis statistical testing helps attaining a research objectivity and accuracy by ruling out sampling errors. Objectivity is attained on the basis of relying on the hypothesis to observe research outcomes while accuracy is achieved through precise decisions. Researchers use null hypothesis statistical tests in making decisions involving statistical values as well as quantifying the probability that such decisions could be wrong. It is on the basis of this reasoning that LeMire (2010) suggests that researchers are able to develop inferential decisions concerning the distribution of parameters and measures used in arriving at a conclusion concerning a subject matter under study. Null hypothesis statistical testing, if correctly applied, can help researchers in optimizing their endeavor. How to Apply Null Hypothesis in Making Conclusions Hypothesis testing is similar to a criminal trial, where a jury is expected to use available evidence to decide the reliability of two probable truths that is, innocence (H0) and guilty (HA). Just as it assumed that an accused is innocent until proven otherwise, a researcher should similarly assume that there is no relatio ...

1. English Check Your Understanding
Read the essay: (NB: the essay is attached for you)
“Perspectives: Improving Race Relations One Journalism Class
at a Time” by Breea C. Willingham (pp. 572-574)
Once you have read that essay, please complete the following:
1. Summarize the author’s essay and the author’s main
argument.
2. What support does the author provide to defend his/her
argument?
3. In your opinion, does the author present a strong argument?
Please explain why or why not.
As with any writing assignment, you must provide strong
responses to each question. One sentence does not constitute a
strong response. Also, you should supply examples from the
essay to help support your responses.
Correlation between Alcoholism and Parental Abuse
Research and Evaluation FP6030
December 16, 2015
Dr. Palmisano
Running head: CORRELATION BETWEEN ALCOHOLISM
AND PARENTA ABUSE
1
CORRELATION BETWEEN ALCOHOLISM AND PARENTA

2. ABUSE
2
Correlation between Alcoholism and Parental Abuse
Hypothetical Statements
N.B: The research question has been revised to “What is the
relationship between alcoholism and parental abuse?”
The null hypothesis (H0): Children living with alcoholics are
less likely to develop risky behaviors than children living with
non-alcoholics (percentage of children living with alcoholics
are less likely to develop risky behaviors< 82.2%).
Alternative Hypothesis (HA): Children living with alcoholics
are likely to develop risky behaviors than children living with
non-alcoholics (percentage of children living with alcoholics
are likely to develop risky behaviors =82. 2%).
Reasons for Using Null Hypothesis in a Research
Many research materials use the null hypothesis statistical
testing despite some reservations on its effectiveness. Levine et
al. (2008) point out that null hypothesis statistical testing helps
attaining a research objectivity and accuracy by ruling out
sampling errors. Objectivity is attained on the basis of relying
on the hypothesis to observe research outcomes while accuracy
is achieved through precise decisions. Researchers use null
hypothesis statistical tests in making decisions involving
statistical values as well as quantifying the probability that such
decisions could be wrong. It is on the basis of this reasoning
that LeMire (2010) suggests that researchers are able to develop
inferential decisions concerning the distribution of parameters
and measures used in arriving at a conclusion concerning a
subject matter under study. Null hypothesis statistical testing, if
correctly applied, can help researchers in optimizing their
endeavor.

3. How to Apply Null Hypothesis in Making Conclusions
Hypothesis testing is similar to a criminal trial, where a
jury is expected to use available evidence to decide the
reliability of two probable truths that is, innocence (H0) and
guilty (HA). Just as it assumed that an accused is innocent until
proven otherwise, a researcher should similarly assume that
there is no relationship unless proven otherwise. Davis and
Mukamal (2006) observe that a not guilty verdict in a criminal
case does not imply innocence, but that a burden of proof is
insufficient. In the same way, an investigator can reject a null
hypothesis (known as the type I error) or fail to decline it; a
decline does not imply that a null hypothesis is true. The
researchers further posit that a hypothesis testing can similarly
fail to decline a null hypothesis if the dependent and
independent variables are associated that is, type II error. The
probability of this false and negative conclusion is referred to
as the beta. The power of the test (1-beta) implies a correct
conclusion of rejecting the null hypothesis where there is a
common relationship between the direct and indirect variables.
Relationship of the Hypothesis to the Problem
There is a direct relationship between the research problem
and the alternative hypothetical statement. It is, therefore, a
type two error as it is clear that harmful consumption of alcohol
by parents can result in children leading to risky behaviors.
Feasibility of the Hypothesis
Hypothesis testing is significant for this research since a
bigger sample size will be used. A hypothesis test on the data to
ascertain the accuracy of the relationship between alcoholism
and parental is feasible as a reliable test because of very many
unknown factors.
Measurability and Testability of the Hypothesis
Statistical tools such as mean and standard deviation will
be used to ascertain the number of children who are likely to
develop risk health behaviors as a result of their parents’
alcoholism. Data will be collected from a measurable variable
that is children, for the research study. The data will also be

4. used to test the null and alternative hypotheses and a decision
made on which hypothesis depend on.
References
Davis, R. B., & Mukamal, K. J. (2006). Statistical Primer for
Cardiovascular Research. Circulation, 114, 1078-1082.
LeMire, S. D. (2010). An Argument Framework for the
Application of Null Hypothesis Statistical Testing in
Support of Research. Journal of Statistics Education, 18(2), 1-
23.
Levine, T. R., Weber, R., Hullett, C., Park, H. S., & Lindsey, L.
L. M. (2008). A critical assessment of null hypothesis
significance testing in quantitative communication research.
Human Communication Research, 34(2), 171-187.
by Breea C. Willingham
I was standing in line in the Dollar Tree store recently when a
blonde-haired little girl who looked to be about 5 years old
flashed a toothless smile at me. “Hello,” she said. “You have a
black face. How did you get that black face?”
I’m usually quick with a comeback, but the girl caught me off
guard. After pausing for a few minutes I simply replied, “I was

5. born with it just like you were born with your white face.”
“Oh,” the little girl said, and went about her business.
Imagine that little girl in my classroom 13 years from now. I
recognize that little girl in a few of my students.
I’m an African-American faculty member on a predominantly
White campus in a town where less than 5 percent of the
population is minority.
Many of my students are from White suburban communities or
small towns, where diversity is not an issue because there is
none. For many of them, their first experiences with minorities
and discussions about race happen in my classroom.
Getting my students to talk about race is challenging, at best, on
most days.
And on the days when my students write papers where they call
Black people “coloreds” or say the majority of crimes in the
United States are committed by Black men, that goal seems
more frustrating than attainable.
The biggest challenge for me is figuring out how to use those
frustrations as learning tools and examples of precisely why
diversity is needed across the curriculum. Just as newsrooms
across the nation celebrate Time Out for Diversity and Accuracy
once a year, journalism educators need to be reminded why they
have to bring these issues to the classroom.
I’ve always been passionate about issues dealing with race,
ethnicity and diversity, and how they relate to the media. I
covered these matters as a reporter for the Times Union in
Albany, and I work hard to incorporate them into my courses.
For instance, during an exercise in my “Women, Minorities and
the Media” class I drew four columns on the blackboard and
labeled each one African-American, Asian American, American
Indian or Hispanic. I then asked the students to call out
stereotypes for each group.
The students had no problem calling out stereotypes such as
“lazy,” “like to eat fried chicken” and “can’t speak English
well.” But when I drew a fifth column for White people and
asked for the stereotypes, the students were hard pressed to find

6. any. I repeated the exercise asking for positive attributes for
each group; the lists for the minorities were considerably
shorter.
At the end I asked my students why it was so easy for them to
point out the negatives and not the positives. They all blamed
the media for portraying negative images of minorities.
I try to teach my students that before they can even begin to
report on and write about race-related issues, they have to be
willing to talk about them first and confront their prejudices.
Teaching that lesson isn’t always easy, and I even became
discouraged when I read course evaluations from last fall
semester where some students criticized me for talking about
diversity too much in class.
But then I read one student’s paper in the spring semester.
“Because of this class I feel better prepared to deal with many
social issues and situations, especially race, on a day-to-day
basis,” the student wrote. I felt an overwhelming sense of
satisfaction knowing I at least reached one.
My efforts so far have taught me that adding diversity to the
curriculum is more than just adding a new course to the roster,
and simply having a “Women, Minorities and the Media” course
is not enough.
I’m learning it’s more about changing the way students think
about and look at diversity issues, and challenging their biases.
Professors also need to learn before they can deal with these
issues as an educator; they need to acknowledge and challenge
their own biases.
Although I have my moments when I feel like I want to give up
trying to teach diversity to the next generation of journalists,
my passion for the issue won’t let me.
And on the days when I feel my efforts are in vain, I remember
the advice a colleague recently gave me: “You’re the only
education some of these students will ever get on race issues. I
don’t know if that’s more frustrating than consoling, but I see it
as a legitimate chance for you to make a difference in some of
their lives and in the world around you. Yeah, it seems small-

7. scale, but if the world’s gonna change, it’s going to be one
person at a time. At least you’re doing some good things to try
to initiate that change. Keep at it.”
And so I do.
Breea C. Willingham spent 10 years as a reporter for papers in
the Carolinas and New York State. She is now a journalism
professor at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, N.Y.