You will undertake an analysis based on a self-designed fictitious study that utilizes statistical methodologies. You will first develop a fictitious problem to examine - it can be anything. For example, maybe you want to look at whether scores on a standardized college placement test (like the SAT) are related to the level of income a person makes 10 years after college; Or, whether those who participate in a Leadership Training program rated as better managers compared to those who do not; Or, whether ones political affiliation is related to gender. These are just a few examples; be creative and think about what piques your interest. You might also address a problem that you may want to look at in future research for a dissertation. You will use either EXCEL or SPSS to conduct the analysis.
Your analysis report should include the following components:
- Describe your research study.
- State a hypothesis.
- List and explain the variables you would collect in this study. There must be a minimum of three variables and two must meet the assumptions for a correlational analysis.
- Create a fictitious data set that you will analyze. The data should have a minimum of 30 cases, but not more than 50 cases.
- Conduct a descriptive data analysis that includes the following:
- a measure of central tendency
- a measure of dispersion
- at least one graph
- Briefly interpret the descriptive data analysis.
- Conduct the appropriate statistical test that will answer your hypothesis. It must be a statistical test covered in this course such as regression analysis, single t-test, independent t-test, cross-tabulations, Chi-square, or One-Way ANOVA. Explain your justification for using the test based on the type of data and the level of measurement that the data lends to for the statistical analysis.
- Report and interpret your findings. Use APA style and include a statement about whether you reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis.