Sociology 205 Social Statistics Assignment 5 Due on Thursday November 18th, via

Sociology 205 Social Statistics
Assignment 5
Due on Thursday November 18th, via Moodle—only ONE copy needed per group.
This assignment deals with ANOVA which is in Cell B in the 2×2 below. You will be testing to see if individuals in two or more groups are, on average, different from one another on one or more dimensions. Your analysis should include descriptive statistics, t-test or F results, Eta2 statistics, and an interpretation of your results.
Independent Variable
Categorical (aka Nominal)
Interval
Dependent Variable
Categorical (aka Nominal)
A
Cross-tab
Not covered in this class
Interval
B
ANOVA
C
Regression
Again, for this write-up, follow a format that is typical for quantitative analyses.
You’ll need to include an introduction, a data section, a methods section, a findings section, a conclusion, and appendices. Here is a description of each section’s contents.
Introduction​The Introduction should consist of a statement of what you are examining and why it is of importance. You should clearly state the relationship(s) you will be examining and what you expect to find. Include some discussion of why this particular investigation is of interest – in other words, why is it worth doing. You should include hypotheses or plausible explanations of your expectations. You don’t need to get into the nitty-gritty detail of your particular variables and data here. The introduction should draw the reader in and make us interested in your project. Feel free to draw on political debates, past research on a particular social issue, or any other outside sources to help frame your project. A paragraph.
Data​The Data section should be a concise description of the data that you used in the analysis. This should include where the data is from and when it was collected. You should describe the sample you are using. Tell us the total sample (or subsample) size (and why a subsample is useful or necessary to test your hypotheses). Also, you should also include any descriptive statistics or descriptive tables you feel would help the reader better understand your data and what you are investigating. One to two paragraphs.
Methods​The Methods section is where you will discuss what you did to the data, how you did it, and why you did it. However, this does not mean you provide a click-by-click description of what you had SPSS do — your variable names and software package are not information the reader needs to know. For example – if you collapsed interval scale data into groups then tell the reader about the groupings and why you felt these groupings were theoretically appropriate? Given that we are doing straightforward analyses, you should simply state how you made the hypotheses operational and then indicate the method you are using to test the hypotheses. You should present formal hypotheses here. For example:
​H0: The mean level of health satisfaction is the same for men and women.
​H1A: On average, women report higher levels of satisfaction with their health.
​H1B: On average, men report higher levels of satisfaction with their health.
​Assume the reader knows the basic statistical tests and calculations. One or two paragraphs should suffice.
Findings​Following the Methods section is the Finding section. Here is where you report and discuss the results of your analysis (in both narrative and table format). Three main things need to be reported and explained in this section: the metric differences between the groups (ie the means), the statistical significance of the relationship between the two variables (ie the F test or t-test), and the strength of the relationship (Eta2). When you discuss statistical significance, you should tell me if you can reject the null hypothesis or if you failed to reject it (and what this means). Explanations of the results should be further developed. If you believe the results are misleading or oversimplify the causal process (for any number of reasons such as: other factors needed to be taken into account, the question was asked did not tap into people’s true opinions, and so on), here’s where you should discuss these concerns. Could be as much as a page or two of text.
Conclusion​Your conclusion is a clear and concise recap of your major findings along with a few sentences tying those statements back to issues raised in the opening paragraph. Talk about the overall substantive significance of the relationship between your two variables. Here is where you argue for or against substantive significance. Make your case. One or two paragraphs.
Appendices​The final section is an appendix where you should attach an error-free version of your output if you did not insert your tables into the write-up as you went along.
This assignment should be no longer than necessary. Your assignment write-up should:
• be typed and double-spaced with your last name(s) on every page
• use 12 point font
• have a subtitle in front of each section
• include titles on all charts and tables
• have charts and tables included in an appendix at the back of the write-up or inserted at appropriate point in the text, which you refer to when discussing the tables in the text
• have page numbers
• be STAPLED