Assessment 1 – Basics of Research and Statistics, Frequency Dist.docx

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.

3. A researcher tests whether smoking by parents influences
children’s attitudes toward smoking behavior.
4. A social scientist tests whether attitudes toward morality
differ based on political affiliation (Democrat or Republican).
5. A cultural researcher tests whether individuals from different
cultures share or differ in the belief that dreams have meaning.
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.

Assessment 1 – Basics of Research and Statistics, Frequency Dist.docx

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