Independent Worksheet # 1: A review of Introductory Statistics (including t-test and correlation)

Briefly, the study involves middle grade teachers. The schools where the data were collected are of two types: Type A schools use teaming as the instructional model. That is, content teachers (math, English, Science, etc.) work together in teams for instructional purposes. Type B schools do not use teaming. The core purpose of the study is to see if this difference in instructional format affects Self-Efficacy. The student collected data on two types of self-efficacy: Collective Self-Efficacy and Personal Self-Efficacy. Collective Self-Efficacy is the teacher's perception that the school and the teachers in the school are effective and competent. Personal Self-Efficacy is the teacher's perception of her or his own competence and effectiveness.

Descriptive statistics for Collective Self-Efficacy and Personal Self-Efficacy are presented in Table 1. For both scales the minimum score is 20 and the maximum score is 100.

Table 1a: Descriptive Statistics for Collective and Personal Self-Efficacy

At-test comparing Collective Self-Efficacy and Personal Self-Efficacy was computed. For this analysis t = 4.25, p = .000, partial eta squared = .055.

Differences between male teachers and female teachers were computed. These results are presented in Table 2.

Table 2a: Means and Standard Deviations for Collective and Personal Self-Efficacy by Gender

Table 2b: Results of t-tests for Collective and Personal Self-Efficacy by Gender

Results for teachers who do or do not work in teams are presented in Table 3:

Table 3a: Means and Standard Deviations for Collective and Personal Self-Efficacy by Team Membership

Table 3b: Results of t-tests for Team Membership

Correlations between various demographic variables and Collective and Personal Self-Efficacy are presented in Table 4:

Table 4: Correlations

Note: Gender is scored where Males = 1 and Females = 2

Degree is scored where Bachelor's = 1; Master's = 2 and Doctorate = 3

Questions:

Q1: How would you describe this study in terms of its design? (That is, is this experimental research? If so, what kind of experiment? Is it correlational? Is it a mixed methods study? Etc.)

Q2: Does it appear that Collective Self-Efficacy and Personal Self-Efficacy are normally distributed?

Q3: Looking at the data in Table 1a, are there any issues you see that might warrant investigation in terms of the data?

Q4: What kind of t-test was used to compare Collective Self-Efficacy and Personal Self-Efficacy (the sentence after Table 1a). What does the result indicate?

Q5: What kind of t-test was used for the data in Table 2b? Interpret what these data show.

Q6: What kind of t-test was used for the data in Table 3b? Interpret what these data show.

Q7: Interpret the results of the correlations (Table 4).

Q8: Looking at the results presented, do you think the student will be happy? (That's a strange way of saying: do you think the data make any sense.)