PSYC FPX4700 Assessment 1 Basics of Research and Statistics, Frequency Distributions, Percentiles, and Graphical Representations

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.

PSYC FPX4700 Assessment 1 Basics of Research and Statistics, Frequency Distributions, Percentiles, and Graphical Representations

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: ___ Use of Cocaine

Quasi-Independent Variable: _____ 

Dependent Variable: ___ Impulsive Behavior _____

1. A professor tests whether students perform better on a multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank test format. 

Independent Variable: ____Test Type ______ 

Quasi-Independent Variable: 

Dependent Variable: ____ How students perform on the test ____

1. A researcher tests whether smoking by parents influences children’s attitudes toward smoking behavior.   

Independent Variable: ___ Parents who smoke _____ 

Quasi-Independent Variable: ________

Dependent Variable: ___ Attitude of minors toward smoking _____

1. A social scientist tests whether attitudes toward morality differ based on political affiliation (Democrat or Republican).

Independent Variable: ________ 

Quasi-Independent Variable: ____ Political affiliation ____

Dependent Variable: ____ Attitude towards morality ____

1. A cultural researcher tests whether individuals from different cultures share or differ in the belief that dreams have meaning.

Independent Variable: ________ 

Quasi-Independent Variable: ____ Different Cultures ____

Dependent Variable: ____ Beliefs ____

Problem Set 1.2: Understanding Sample and Population

Criterion: Describe the relationship between the population and sample. 

Instructions: Read the following and answer the question. 

Height and educational attainment: Szklarska et al. (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.

A population is a vast collection of individuals, from which a study’s conclusions are derived. In contrast, a sample is a smaller group of individuals selected from the population, which accurately represents the population under investigation, and from which data is collected.

For example, in research investigating height disparities among people, the individuals chosen by the researchers constitute a sample obtained from a larger population of both taller and shorter people. In this particular study, only nineteen-year-old men were recruited as the sample to test the research hypothesis.

Problem Set 1.3: Create a dataset for use in JASP

Criterion: Enter and display data for use in JASP.

Data: Five social media users spent the following number of minutes viewing Twitter:
15.21, 46.18, 12.45, 65.486, 26.852.

Instructions: Use the supplied data to complete the steps below.

1. Open Excel.
2. In cell A1, type Minutes. The variable of Minutes is continuous. 
3. In cells A2-A6, enter the supplied data in the column labeled Minutes.
4. Save your dataset as a .csv file
5. Open JASP.
6. In the sandwich menu, scroll down to OPEN, then select COMPUTER. Locate your .csv file and click it to open it. 
7. Take a screenshot of your data in JASP and paste it below.

Table 1

Number of Minutes Spent by Five Users

Problem Set 1.4.a: Grouped or Ungrouped

Criterion: Explain the identification of types of data. 

There are two primary classifications for data sets:

• Grouped data 
• Ungrouped data

 Grouped data involves data that has been categorized into groups or class intervals. This approach is frequently utilized for large datasets as it helps to comprehend the data distribution more effectively. 

In contrast, ungrouped data refers to individual values or numbers that cannot be divided into groups or intervals. This technique is generally employed for small datasets or when precise values of data are necessary for analysis.

PSYC FPX4700 Assessment 1 Basics of Research and Statistics, Frequency Distributions, Percentiles, and Graphical Representations

Instruction: Fill in the table below. For each example, state whether it is grouped or ungrouped and why. 

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:

Source: Reported at http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/Guns.aspx 

1. Are the percentages reported here an example of descriptive statistics or inferential statistics?

  The percentages reported here are an example of descriptive statistics, as they describe the percentage of Americans who own guns without attempting to infer any cause-and-effect relationships.

Based on the percentages given in the table, how has gun ownership in the United States changed over the past 40 years? 

Over the past 40 years, gun ownership in the United States has fluctuated but has generally remained fairly consistent. In 1972, 43% of Americans owned guns, and in 2012, 43% of Americans owned guns. In the intervening years, gun ownership decreased to 42% in 1982, increased to 48% in 1992, and then decreased again to 40% in 2002.

Problem Set 1.5: Reading a Chart

Criterion: Locate data on a chart. 

Instructions: Read the following and answer the questions. 

1. Do college professors or clinical psychologists in this sample speak more words overall (Token Count)? 

Statistically speaking, in the provided sample, College Professors constitute 53.868% of the tokens, indicating that they speak more words overall when compared to Clinical Psychologists, who account for 46.1313% of the total tokens. Therefore, College Professors tend to speak more words than Clinical Psychologists, according to the overall criteria.

Do college professors or clinical psychologists in this sample speak more different words (Type Count)? 

In the given sample, Clinical Psychologists account for 48.55% of the total count of types, while College Professors represent 50.45% of the votes for using different types of words. Therefore, we can infer that College Professors have a more diverse language than Clinical Psychologists. Overall, the result shows that College Professors have a varied vocabulary and tend to speak more than Clinical Psychologists. 

Problem Set 1.6: Frequencies and Percentages

Criterion: Identify frequencies and percentages.

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: 

The frequency of businesses with at least 20 employees: Cumulative percent summarized from the top down.

1. The frequency of college students with less than a 3.0 GPA: ______ Cumulative Frequency and summarized from bottom up.
2. The percentage of women completing 1, 2, 3, or 4 tasks simultaneously: ____: Relative Percent
3. The proportion of pregnancies delivered in public or private hospitals: _______ Relative Frequency, summarized from the top down_____
4. The percentage of alcoholics with more than 2 years of substance abuse: _______ Cumulative relative frequent, summarized from the top down._____

PSYC FPX4700 Assessment 1 Basics of Research and Statistics, Frequency Distributions, Percentiles, and Graphical Representations

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? ________ This is relative percent distribution 
2. Knowing that 1,280 adults were polled nationwide, how many Americans polled felt that same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry? __________742 Americans______________

Problem Set 1.8: Create an Ascending Frequency Table in JASP

Criterion: Create an ascending frequency table in JASP.

Data: Use dataset clicks.jasp. This dataset is a record of the number of clicks per hour in forty different tweets.

Instructions: Complete the steps below.

1. Download clicks.jasp. Double-click the icon to open the dataset in JASP. 
2. In the Toolbar, click Descriptives.
3. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the Variables box.
4. Click Tables. In the menu that opens, check Frequency Tables. 
5. Copy and paste the ascending values frequency table into the Word document.

Note: You will continue to use this dataset in the next two problems.

Table 2

Number of Clicks Per Hour in Forty Different Tweets

Problem Set 1.9: Construct a Bar Graph in JASP

Criterion: Construct a bar graph in JASP.

Data: Use dataset clicks.jasp. This dataset is a record of the number of clicks per hour in forty different tweets.

Instructions: Complete the following steps to create a bar chart to examine the data:

1. Download clicks.jasp. Double-click the icon to open the dataset in JASP. 
2. In the Toolbar, click Descriptives.
3. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the Variables box.
4. Click Basic Plots, then check Distribution Plots.
5. Copy and Paste the bar graph below.

Optional to answer: What is the shape of the distribution? Asymmetrical.

Note: You will continue to use this dataset for the next problem.

Table 3

Bar Chart of The Number of Clicks Per Hour in Forty Different Tweets.

Problem Set 1.10: Construct a Pie Chart in JASP

Criterion: Construct a pie chart in JASP.

Data: Use dataset clicks.jasp. This dataset is a record of the number of clicks per hour in forty different tweets.

Instructions: Complete the following steps to create a pie chart.

1. Download clicks.jasp. Double-click the icon to open the dataset in JASP. 
2. In the Toolbar, click Descriptives.
3. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the Variables box.
4. Click Basic Plots, then check Pie charts.
5. Copy and paste the pie graph below.

Table 4

Pie Chart of The Number of Clicks Per Hour in Forty Different Tweets.