Assignment Guidelines

Critically evaluate the two scenarios you selected based upon the following points:

• Critically evaluate the sample size.
• Critically evaluate the statements for meaningfulness.
• Critically evaluate the statements for statistical significance.
• Based on your evaluation, provide an explanation of the implications for social change.
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Scenario:

Statistical significance is found in a study, but the effect in reality is very small (i.e., there was a very minor difference in attitude between men and women). Were the results meaningful?

An independent samples t test was conducted to determine whether differences exist between men and women on cultural competency scores. The samples consisted of 663 women and 650 men taken from a convenience sample of public, private, and non-profit organizations. Each participant was administered an instrument that measured his or her current levels of cultural competency. The cultural competency score ranges from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating higher levels of cultural competency. The descriptive statistics indicate women have higher levels of cultural competency (M = 9.2, SD = 3.2) than men (M = 8.9, SD = 2.1). The results were significant t (1311) = 2.0, p <.05, indicating that women are more culturally competent than are men. These results tell us that gender-specific interventions targeted toward men may assist in bolstering cultural competency.