Overview
Throughout the course, you have been exploring various concepts and building your skills in statistical analysis, all in preparation for this culminating assignment, your research report. In your research report, you will discuss the steps taken during this course to build your study. If you have completed the steps along the way throughout the course, you should be well prepared and will be able to use your work in your report.
Preparation
Complete the following:
Step 1: In the Capella library, find six peer-reviewed journal articles related to the variables you identified in your Week 3 assignment. If you've been following along with the suggested preparations each week, hopefully you already have a strong set of articles to help you with this assignment. If you aren't quite at six articles yet, be sure to visit the library and complete your set.
Step 2: Analyze the data from the two variables you identified in your Week 3 assignment using the statistical test identified in your Week 7 assignment (consider your instructor's feedback).
Instructions
Follow the outline below for your paper; you can use the Week 9 Paper Template [DOCX] to help organize your writing. Page and paragraph lengths are provided to help you gauge if you’ve written enough or too much—use them as a guide to help you stay on track.
Introduction. (1–1.5 pages.)
oWrite 2–4 paragraphs summarizing the six peer-reviewed journal articles you found on your topic.
Hypothesis.
oInclude both your null and alternate hypotheses you created in a previous assignment.
Methods. (1.5–2 pages.)
oParticipants. (1 paragraph.)
§Describe the number of participants in the study.
§For this archival data project, the number of participants refers to the number of participants who responded to both of your selected variables.
oMeasures. (1–2 paragraphs.) See your Week 5 assignment and any feedback you received.
§Describe the GSS.
§Discuss its reliability and validity.
§Discuss the measurement (your variables/questions) you chose from your work throughout the course.
§Be sure to revise based on any instructor feedback you received.
oData Analysis Approach. (1–2 paragraphs.)
§Explain the form of analysis you used to manipulate your data. Consider the following questions in your explanation.
§From the point that you had the raw data, what tests did you run?
§Why did you select that test (or those tests)?
§How did you manipulate the data (for example cleaning the data)?
§Why did you choose to manipulate the data?
§What results did you desire?
§Note: Don't put your actual results here (those come next), instead discuss what you expected to find.
Results. (1–1.5 pages.)
oReport the results of your statistical analysis. (1 paragraph.)
§Use current APA style format for reporting your results.
oReflect on whether your null hypothesis or alternative hypothesis is correct. (1–2 paragraphs.)
§Conclude if the null hypothesis or alternative hypothesis is correct.
§Explain how you reached this conclusion.
oMake a conclusion about the relationship between the variables and explain how you reached this conclusion. (1–2 paragraphs.)
oInclude a chart or graph (for example, a scatterplot for correlations) to show your data.
Discussion. (1–2 pages.)
oDiscuss your results in relation to the following:
§How do your results compare to other research studies? (1–2 paragraphs.)
§How can your results be generalized? (1–2 paragraphs.)
§What were the limitations of the study? (1–2 paragraphs.)
§Is your research valid and reliable—see the Lameck article in Week 8: General Social SurveyLinks to an external site.. How would you evaluate the validity and reliability of your study? (1–2 paragraphs.)
§What might you do as a next step in research?