See attachment Powerpoint

1

Quantitative Analysis Project:

Assignment Overview

Social support is critical to the well-being of children and adolescents (Hughes, 2011).

Positive relationships with others promote health, self-esteem and prosocial behavior (Cohen,

Gottlieb, & Underwood, 2000). Additionally, socially supportive relationships can buffer the

harmful effects of stressful life events, such as an illness, conflict, or parental divorce. The home

and school contexts are the two primary sources of support for most children (Harter, 2012).

Unfortunately, many children do not receive the support they need from these sources

(Zelkowitz, 1987). Given the importance of social support, researchers are currently exploring

other potential sources of support in the broader community. The purpose of this study is to

explore the church as one such potential source of positive relationships, love and affirmation for

children by studying the effects of a relationship-based children’s ministry model.

Background

Every Generation Ministries (EGM) is an international non-profit organization that trains

and resources church children’s workers on six different continents. The churches in many of the

countries where EGM works lack a cohesive model for children’s ministry and tend to follow

cultural norms when ministering to children. For example, churches in Eastern Europe, which are

part of the former Soviet Bloc, are more likely to provide lecture-based instruction focused on

memorization with little opportunity for interaction or relationship-building. EGM develops

national ministry teams which provide leadership development programs and Bible teaching

resources for children’s workers in local churches.

The ministry model is focused on spiritually transforming children through innovative

instructional experiences, positive relationships with adults and peers, small group discussion,

2

and application opportunities. These pedagogical features are theorized to promote social support

transmission. Prior literature in the school context has found that positive student relationships

with adults and peers can be promoted through smaller learning communities (McNeely et al.,

2002) and the explicit teaching of prosocial behavior (Osterman, 2000), both of which are

meaningful components of the EGM model. Furthermore, child-centered teaching, comparable to

the child-focused elements of the EGM ministry model, have been associated with a greater

sense of classroom community in public schools (Solomon et al., 1996).

The Present Study

In order to evaluate whether it is accomplishing its mission, EGM initiated the Crucible

Project. The Crucible Project is an effort to apply behavioral science research methods to

evaluate and improve the ministry. In a pilot study conducted in Chile, a partner church collected

survey data from the children in its children’s program before and after receiving training and

resources and implementing the EGM children’s ministry model. The survey assessed multiple

constructs including children’s God image, prosocial behavior, and the quality of children’s

relationships with peers and adults at church. EGM and its partner church expected to see an

increase in these constructs after the implementation of the model.

Method

Participants

Survey data were collected from a mid-sized Evangelical Christian church in Chile. To

simplify data analysis for the purposes of this assignment, 10 children were randomly selected at

each of the two timepoints (before and after implementation of the EGM model). There is no

identifying information which would allow us to match children’s scores across the two

timepoints, so before and after are being treated as two separate groups. Therefore, in your final

3

presentation, please report participant information separately for each group (i.e., sample size,

percentage of boys, age range, average age). Age and sex data for the participants are provided in

the Appendix. You will need to calculate the percentage of boys, age range, and average age

using this provided information.

Measures

One of the measures used in the EGM pilot study was a Spanish translation of the received

(emotional) social support scale of the Kids’ Church Survey (Crosby & Smith, 2017). This is the

scale that will be used as the dependent variable for this assignment. The Spanish version of the

survey contains four items. The original English version of these items is as follows:

1. I tell people at church about what’s going on in my life.

2. I get to tell people at church my ideas.

3. People at church help me with my problems.

4. I tell someone from church about my feelings.

Response options range from 1 (Never) to 4 (Always). The Kids’ Church Survey was

originally developed and validated in English with a U.S. sample. The received (emotional)

support subscale demonstrated good internal reliability, was sensitive to between-church

differences related to size and ministry model, and was associated with children’s spirituality in a

sample of 6- through 14-year-olds.

Procedures

One month before training and implementation of the EGM model, surveys were

administered at a mid-sized Chilean church by local children’s workers during the regular

children’s program using a standardized protocol. Church leaders secured parental consent and

child assent before administering the surveys. Children were instructed to respond truthfully, and

4

the workers administering the survey were instructed not to influence the children’s responses.

Children responded by checking the boxes that corresponded to their response choice. These

hard copies were then placed in a sealed envelope and delivered to the local EGM office where

responses were typed into a computer spreadsheet by a paid staff member. Three months after

the children’s workers completed training and implemented the model, the survey was

readministered using the same protocol.

Data Analysis

For this assignment, you will calculate the mean received (emotional) social support

score for children in the church before and after implementation of the EGM model. You do not

need to perform any further calculations. These descriptive statistics will be presented in a table

beside an explanation of their meaning. You will also create a bar chart in which you compare

the means of the two groups and interpret the chart’s meaning.

PowerPoint Presentation

Using the provided template, you will create an APA-style PowerPoint presentation in

which you formally present the background, methodology, results, and a discussion of this study.

Provide the appropriate information on each slide drawing from the information provided in this

assignment overview, your own analysis, and your own ideas about the study’s implications and

future research possibilities. Make sure to delete the bracketed instructions from the presentation.

You may incorporate the articles cited in this assignment overview into your presentation;

however, all information must be presented in your own words. Copying and pasting entire

sentences from this assignment overview into your presentation is considered plagiarism.

5

References

Cohen, S., Gottlieb, B. H., & Underwood, L. G. (2000). Social relationships and health. In

Cohen, S., Underwood, L. G. & Gottlieb, B. H. (Eds.), Social support measurement and

intervention: A guide for health and social scientists (pp. 3-28). Oxford Press.

Crosby, R. G., & Smith, E. I. (2017). Measuring children's church-based social support:

Development and initial validation of the Kids' Church Survey. Social Development,

26(2), 423-442. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12198

Harter, S. (2012). Manual for the social support scale for children (Revised). University of

Denver.

Hughes, J. N. (2011). Longitudinal effects of teacher and student perceptions of teacher-student

relationship qualities on academic adjustment. The Elementary School Journal, 112, 38-

60. https://doi.org/10.1086/660686

McNeely, C. A., Nonnemaker, J. M., & Blum, R. W. (2002). Promoting school connectedness:

Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Journal of School

Health, 72, 138-146. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2002.tb06533.x

Osterman, K. F. (2000). Students’ need for belonging in the school community. Review of

Educational Research, 70, 323-367. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070003323

Solomon, D., Watson, M., Battistich, V., Schaps, E., & Delucchi, K. (1996). Creating classrooms

that students experience as communities. American Journal of Community Psychology,

24, 719-748. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02511032

Zelkowitz, P. (1987). Social support and aggressive behavior in young children. Family

Relations, 36, 129-134. https://doi.org/10.2307/583941

6

Appendix

Survey data collected from children at the church before training and implementation of the EGM ministry model:

Sex Age Support

Score Girl 10 1.00 Boy 10 1.50 Girl 13 1.50 Boy 6 1.25 Girl 6 1.75 Boy 6 1.25 Boy 10 1.50 Girl 10 1.00 Girl 4 1.75 Boy 11 1.50

Survey data collected from children at the church after training and implementation of the EGM ministry model:

Sex Age Support

Score Boy 10 1.00 Boy 10 2.00 Girl 10 2.25 Girl 5 1.25 Boy 9 2.00 Girl 6 1.75 Boy 5 1.75 Girl 4 2.25 Girl 10 1.25 Boy 9 3.50

Support Score Key 4 Always 3 Most of the Time 2 Sometimes 1 Never