Assignment 2: Discussion: Research Questions for Correlational and Chi-Square Designs

Welcome to Week 5 Discussion Assignment. The goal this week is to review the Module 5 lecture notes on clarifying research questions for correlation and chi-square research designs, and then read and respond to the Discussion Question and to the discussion of at least 2 other students by asking questions of other students.

Post a behavioral research situation that could use a Pearson coefficient research study and a chi square research study. Present the rationale for each selection. Be very specific in your presentation.

Argosy Online (2015). Argosy University Module 5. Retrieved from:

Heiman, Gary W.. Behavioral Sciences STAT, 1e. Wadsworth, 2015. VitalBook file. Retrieved from:  http://digitalbookshelf.argosy.edu/books/9781285404691/outline/10

Heiman, Gary W.. Behavioral Sciences STAT, 1e. Wadsworth, 2015. VitalBook file. Retrieved from:  http://digitalbookshelf.argosy.edu/books/9781285404691/outline/12

Using Chi-Square Statistic in Research

 

The Chi Square statistic is commonly used for testing relationships between categorical variables. The null hypothesis of the Chi-Square test is that no relationship exists on the categorical variables in the population; they are independent. An example research question that could be answered using a Chi-Square analysis would be:

Is there a significant relationship between voter intent and political party membership?

How does the Chi-Square statistic work?

The Chi-Square statistic is most commonly used to evaluate Tests of Independence when using a crosstabulation (also known as a bivariate table). Crosstabulation presents the distributions of two categorical variables simultaneously, with the intersections of the categories of the variables appearing in the cells of the table. The Test of Independence assesses whether an association exists between the two variables by comparing the observed pattern of responses in the cells to the pattern that would be expected if the variables were truly independent of each other. Calculating the Chi-Square statistic and comparing it against a critical value from the Chi-Square distribution allows the researcher to assess whether the observed cell counts are significantly different from the expected cell counts.

The calculation of the Chi-Square statistic is quite straight-forward and intuitive:

where fo = the observed frequency (the observed counts in the cells)
and fe = the expected frequency if NO relationship existed between the variables

As depicted in the formula, the Chi-Square statistic is based on the difference between what is actually observed in the data and what would be expected if there was truly no relationship between the variables.

How is the Chi-Square statistic run in SPSS and how is the output interpreted?

The Chi-Square statistic appears as an option when requesting a crosstabulation in SPSS. The output is labeled Chi-Square Tests; the Chi-Square statistic used in the Test of Independence is labeled Pearson Chi-Square. This statistic can be evaluated by comparing the actual value against a critical value found in a Chi-Square distribution (where degrees of freedom is calculated as # of rows – 1 x # of columns – 1), but it is easier to simply examine the p-value provided by SPSS. To make a conclusion about the hypothesis with 95% confidence, the value labeled Asymp. Sig. (which is the p-value of the Chi-Square statistic) should be less than .05 (which is the alpha level associated with a 95% confidence level).

Is the p-value (labeled Asymp. Sig.) less than .05? If so, we can conclude that the variables are not independent of each other and that there is a statistical relationship between the categorical variables.

In this example, there is an association between fundamentalism and views on teaching sex education in public schools. While 17.2% of fundamentalists oppose teaching sex education, only 6.5% of liberals are opposed. The p-value indicates that these variables are not independent of each other and that there is a statistically significant relationship between the categorical variables…

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

 

Week 5 Discussion Assignment