Reference no: EM132279890

Question: Believe it or not, SPSS is a software that is a lot of fun to use. Some may think of it as a spreadsheet pre-programmed with the mathematical formulas researchers need to generate the types of statistics you are familiar with in research articles (such as correlation co-efficients). As you build your experience with SPSS through this course, remember there are resources on Campus to support your first steps. You may always use the Ask Your Instructor if you get stuck. Let us get started exploring all that this tool can do!

After completing this unit's readings, review the "Chapter Summary Organized by Learning Objective" section near the end of each Privitera chapter. These pages will provide you with a general overview of each chapter and may offer an additional perspective on learning the materials. For this discussion, answer each of the questions below. Remember to answer all of the questions listed. Answer the questions in complete sentences and number each question to correspond with the question number in the text. Remember to place all answers in APA style, and pay special attention to technical notations and formatting.

Complete questions 1 and 7 in Chapter 1, "End of Chapter Problems, pages 26-29. Provide a rationale for your answers.

Complete questions 1, 2, and 3 in Chapter 2, "End of Chapter Problems," pages 60-65.

In order to answer these questions, you will need to load and utilize SPSS. It is recommended that you complete the "SPSS in Focus" exercises found throughout the chapters in order to facilitate mastery of the discussion questions.

Hint: Consider completing some of the even-numbered questions as practice too, because the answers are in the back of the book.

Refer to the Copy/Export Output Instructions (in the Resources) to help you copy and paste the SPSS output tables into your discussion.

Discuss any successes, shortcuts, challenges, or difficulties you had when completing the problems.

Be sure to include your output tables in your discussion.

Chapter 1:

1. To determine whether a new sleeping pill was effective, adult insomniacs received a pill (either real or fake), and their sleeping times were subsequently measured (in minutes) during an overnight observation period. Identify the dependent variable in this study. Identify the independent variable in this study.

2. A researcher tests whether mindfulness training reduces impulsive behavior in a sample of participants with a history of impulsivity. Identify the independent variable in this study. Identify the dependent variable in this study.

3. A study is conducted to test whether rewarding children in a cheer camp intermittently (4 times during the camp) or once at the end of the camp differentially bolsters how much they enjoy cheering. Identify the independent and dependent variable in this study. What is the scale of measurement of the independent variable?

4. Rank the scales of measurement in order from least informative to most informative.

5. What is the main disadvantage of measuring qualitative data? In your answer, also explain why quantitative research is most often applied in the behavioral sciences.

6. State whether each of the following describes a study measuring a qualitative or quantitative variable. A researcher distributes open-ended questions to participants asking how they feel when they are in love. A researcher records the blood pressure of participants during a task meant to induce stress. A psychologist interested in drug addiction injects rats with an attention-inducing drug and then measures the rate of lever pressing. A witness to a crime gives a description of the suspect to the police.

7. State whether each of the following is an example of a continuous or discrete variable. Time in seconds to memorize a list of words Number of students in a statistics class Weight in pounds of newborn infants SAT scores among college students

Chapter 2:

1. A researcher observed a rat respond for a food reward by pressing one of three levers in a cage. Pressing the lever to the right (R) produced no food reward, pressing the lever to the left (L) produced a single food pellet, and pressing the lever at the center (C) produced two food pellets. Because the center level produced the largest reward, the researcher hypothesized that the rat would press this lever most often. Each trial ended when the rat pressed a lever.

The researcher recorded lever pressing for 30 trials: L, L, R, L, R, C, R, L, C, L, L, C, C, C, R, C, R, C, L, C, C, L, C, C, C, L, C, C, C, C

Create an ungrouped frequency distribution for these data. Do these data support the hypothesis? Explain.

2. What type of graph for frequency data should you construct when distributing each of the following? Note that there may be more than one right answer.

The number of students falling into an A, B, C, D, or F grade range
The number of autistic children showing improvement following one of three behavioral therapies
The number of men and women suffering from depression
The time it takes a sample of college students to complete some memory task

3. Women serving in the armed forces. In February 2016, a CNN poll asked a sample of 1,001 adults nationwide if they think women in the armed services should get combat assignments on the same terms as men (reported at www.pollingreport.com). The opinions of adults nationwide were as follows: 36%, on the same terms as men; 51%, only if they want to; 12%, never; and 1%, unsure.

What type of distribution is this? Is this a summary for grouped or ungrouped data? Explain.