SPSS Problems

E 1: Situation: John is interested in determining if a new teaching method , the Involvement technique, is effective in teaching algebra to 1 ^st graders. John randomly samples 6 first graders from all first graders within the city’s school system and individually teaches them algebra with the new method. The pupils then complete an 8 item algebra test. Each item describes a problem and presents four possible answers to the problem. The scores on each item are 1 or 0 where 1 indicates a correct response and 0 indicates a wrong response. The SPSS data file contains six cases, each with eight item scores for the algebra test.

1. Compute total scores for the algebra test from the item scores. A one- sample t-test will be computed on the total scores.

2. What is the test value for this problem?

3. Conduct a one-sample t test on the total scores. On the output, identify the following: a) mean algebra score, b) t-test value c) p value.

4. Given the results of the children’s performance on the test, what should John conclude? Write a Results section based on the analyses.

The following are suggestions for writing a Results section:

1. Describe the test, the variables, and the purpose of the test

2. Report the results of the statistical test

1. Discuss the assumptions of a test if necessary to describe why it was chosen, or more generally why the test was valid.

b. report statistics to 2 decimal places

c. state the alpha level chosen for a statistical test and whether or not it is significant.

d. report the test value, degrees of freedom, and significance level.

e) report a confidence interval when possible.

f. report a statistic that allows the reader to make a judgment about the magnitude of the effect, such as a d statistic for a one-sample t test.

3. Report relevant descriptive statistics such as the mean and standard deviation for a one-sample t test.

4. Summarize the specific conclusions that can be reached on the basis of the analyses but don’t interpret or elaborate on the conclusions in the Results section.

E 2: Situation: Fred wishes to determine whether children in regular education are hurt or helped academically by the inclusion of special education students in their classes. He has gained the cooperation of the 7 ^th grade teachers in 2 similar junior high schools to participate in his study. One school recently integrated special education students into their regular classroom, while the other one has not. The teachers in both schools supply Fred the students’ raw scores on a standardized achievement test at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year. The SPSS data file contains 40 cases and three variables: (1) a factor called integrat with two levels, regular education students who are not in integrated classrooms (integrat = 1) and regular education students who are in the integrated classrooms (integrat = 2), (2) a pretest, raw scores on the standardized achievement test obtained at the beginning of the year, and (3) a posttest, raw scores on the same achievement measure obtained at the end of the year.

1. Create a dependent variable by computing a difference score between the pretest and posttest achievement scores.
   
2. Conduct an independent-samples t test to evaluate the effectiveness of integration on academic achievement.
3. What did the Levene’s test evaluate?

Price: $10.73

Solution: The downloadable solution consists of 4 pages, 673 words and 2 charts.
Deliverable: Word Document