Research Project

The final research will count a maximum of 200 points. This includes 25 possible points for on-time approvals, reviews, and drafts and 40 points for formatting and style (see below). For determination of the course grade, the actual points earned will be divided by the total points possible and weighted by 20%. The following considerations will be included in the determination of the grade for the final project:

Grading Scheme:

20 Points – Full Howell and Huessy Project Description

40 Points – Descriptions of Variables

75 Points – Variable Descriptions and Analyses

25 Points – Timeline

40 Points – Format and Style

200 Points Possible

NOTE: You are responsible for ALL the areas below.

1. (20 Points) Describe the source of the database(s) – see the following description for the Howell database: (see the Howell study description document)

2. (40 points) Describe each variable (GPA, ADDSC, Dropout, ENGL, Gender, and Repeat) that will be used in analyses 3A –3D, as well as any additional variable(s) selected for 3E:

· type (measurement scale),

· basic descriptive information, appropriate for the type of variable

· shape of distribution

· missing values and coding for missing

· outliers and how treated

· screening for incorrectly coded data and out-of-range values

Note any concerns or cautions based upon your description/screening. Each of the above will be worth six points for each of the 6 variables. The description of the variables does not have to be repeated for each analysis. Do it initially one time for each of the six variables.

3. (75 points) The description and interpretation of each of the five inferential procedures is worth a maximum of 15 points.

· identification and verification of assumptions and requirements

· the research question and a statement of the null and alternative hypotheses

· the selected statistic

· the calculated value of the statistic and the p (sig.) of the calculated value

· the effect size or amount of variance accounted for, where possible

· decision(s) regarding hypothesis or hypotheses

· an interpretation of the meaning of the results for each analysis. Your analysis and interpretation should integrate all statistical output that is pertinent to the research question (tables, graphs, etc.), but not any unnecessary output. All interpretation should be stated specifically as it applies to the variable that is being analyzed and the research question.

The following five research questions and associated inferential statistical procedures should be analyzed:

A. Correlation and prediction: What is the nature of the relationship between ADD symptoms in elementary school and GPA in ninth grade? Is there a statistical significant relationship? What is the regression equation for predicting GPA from ADDSC? How good is ADDSC in accounting for the variance in GPA? Variables = GPA and ADDSC

B. Difference between two groups: Do dropouts have a lower mean GPA than non-dropouts? Variables = GPA and Dropout

C. Differences among three groups: Is there a difference among the means on GPA for the three levels of English groups? If so, which groups are different? Variables = GPA and ENGL

D. Independence of categorical variables: Is having to repeat a grade related to a student’s gender? In other words, are gender and repeating a grade independent of one another? Variables = GENDER and REPEAT

E. Ask and answer one additional inferential question. You should use one or more variables that were not used in the above analyses and you may (or may not) select an analysis different from the above.

Description of the Howell Dataset for the Stats 1

Final Research Project

NOTE: Use the information below to modify/add variable names and labels in your SPSS dataset.

Howell and Huessy (1985) reported on a study of 386 children who during childhood had or had not exhibited symptoms of attention deficit disorder (ADD), previously known as hyperkinesis or minimal brain dysfunction. For a more complete description of this research, see below. In 1965 teachers of all second-grade school children in a number of schools in northwestern Vermont were asked to complete a questionnaire for each of their students dealing with behaviors commonly associated with ADD. Questionnaires on these same children were again completed when they were in the fourth and fifth grades. For purposes of this dataset only, those three scores were averaged to produce a score labeled ADDSC. The higher the score, the more ADD-like behaviors the child exhibited. At the end of ninth grade and again at the end of twelfth grade, information on the performance of these children was obtained from school records. There data offer the opportunity to examine questions about whether later behavior can be predicted from earlier behavior and to examine academically related variables and their relationships. A description of each variable follows:

ADDSC =The average of the three ADD-like behavior scores obtained in elementary school
SEX 1=male; 2=female
REPEAT 1 = repeated at least one grade; 0=did not repeat a grade
IQ IQ obtained from a group administered IQ test
ENGL Level of English in ninth grade: 1= college prep; 2 = general; 3 = remedial

ENGG Grade in English in ninth grade; 4 = A; 3 = B, etc.
GPA Grade point average in ninth grade
SOCPROB Social problems in ninth grade: 1=yes; 0=no
DROPOUT 1= dropped out during high school; 0=did not drop out

Howell and Huessy (1985) conducted a 15-year longitudinal study that examined the stability, prevalence and predictive power of hyperkinetic (hyperkinesis/minimal brain dysfunction/ attention deficit disorder (ADD)) types of behaviors, as well as the long-term outcomes for hyperkinetic children as compared to non-hyperkinetic children with regard to academic achievement, social-interpersonal development, and employment (Howell, 2004; Howell and Huessy, 1985; Huessy and Gendron, 1970; Howell, Huessy, and Hassuk, 1985). Six waves of data were collected from 1965 - 1976, and 1979 (Huessy & The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, 1987). The original 1965 sample consisted of 500, six to eight year old children enrolled in second grade from 18 rural schools within 40 miles of Burlington, Vermont (Huessy et al., 1987). Two sub-samples of children were derived for the study, those exhibiting ADD behaviors (though not formally diagnosed), and those having no ADD behaviors. The students exhibiting ADD-like behaviors were chosen based upon those who excelled a cutoff score of 62 on the Huessy-Marshall Rating Scale (Huessy et. al.). Children who did not score in the 80^th percentile were considered non-hyperkinetic. The original sample consisted of 500 White-American second graders, with only 369 participants available for the sixth wave, structured interview.

The assessments utilized in the studies comprised the Huessy-Marshall Teacher Rating Scale (a 21-itemed, five point scaled, teacher questionnaire used to detect ADD-like behaviors in children during the 2^nd, 4^th, and 5^th grades) utilized in the first three waves and a sub-sample of the fourth, school record examination (assessment used to determine the number of grades repeated, academic levels, GPA, final English, math, science, and social studies grades, and maladjusted behaviors, during the 9^th and 12^th grade years) utilized during the fourth and fifth waves, and 90 minute face to face or telephone structured interviews having 174 items (conducted when the population achieved the age of 21) assessing educational achievement, military, marital, and employment status, medical, family, and criminal histories, self-perception and satisfaction with life, and narcotic use (Huessy et al.). Besides school records utilized to derive cases histories, further measurement instruments included the Kulman-Finch Intelligence Test, the Otis-Lennon Mental Abilities Test, the Otis-Lennon Intermediate Test, the Cooperative School & College Ability Test (SCAT), the California Achievement Test, and the Iowa Achievement Test. According to Huessy and Howell (1985), data analysis revealed that subjects having ADD-like behaviors in elementary school performed considerably poorer academically and socially in 9^th and 12^th grades, while the subgroup having no ADD-like behaviors performed better academically in high school.

Price: $92.15

Solution: The downloadable solution consists of 19 pages, and 869 words
Deliverable: Word Document and pdf