Activity Description

For this assignment, you will undertake an analysis based on a self-designed fictitious study that utilizes statistical methodologies. You will first develop a fictitious problem to examine - it can be anything. For example, maybe you want to look at whether scores on a standardized college placement test (like the SAT) are related to the level of income a person makes 10 years after college; Or, whether those who participate in a Leadership Training program rated as better managers compared to those who do not; Or, whether ones political affiliation is related to gender. These are just a few examples; be creative and think about what piques your interest. You might also address a problem that you may want to look at in future research for a thesis or dissertation. You will use either EXCEL or SPSS to conduct the analysis. Your analysis report should include the following components:

1. Describe your research study.

2. State a hypothesis.

3. List and explain the variables you would collect in this study. Should you design a study with just two variables, make a recommendation for a third variable and how that might add to interpretation of the data.

4. Create a fictitious data set that you will analyze. The data should have a minimum of 30 cases, but not more than 50 cases. Include the fictitious data set as part of the appendix.

5. Conduct a descriptive data analysis that includes the following:

a. a measure of central tendency

b. a measure of dispersion

c. at least one graph

6. Briefly interpret the descriptive data analysis.

7. Conduct the appropriate statistical test that will answer your hypothesis. It must be a statistical test covered in this course such as regression analysis, single t-test, independent t-test, cross-tabulations, Chi-square, or One-Way ANOVA. Explain your justification for using the test based on the type of data and the level of measurement.