Psychology Statistics

PSYC4700 - Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences

PSYC4700 - Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences

Week 2: Frequency Distributions, Percentiles, and Graphical Representations

Complete the following problems within the Word document. (Do not submit other files.) Show your work for problem sets that require calculations. Ensure your answer to each problem is clearly visible. (You may want to highlight your answer or use a different font color to set it apart.)

Submit the document to your instructor by Sunday, 11:59 p.m. central time.

Problem Set 2.1: Grouped or Ungrouped

Criterion: Explain the identification of types of data.

Instructions: Fill in the table below. For each example, state whether it is grouped or ungrouped and why.

Example	Grouped or Ungrouped	Why
The time (in seconds) it takes 100 children to complete a cognitive skills game.
The number of single mothers with 1, 2, 3, or 4 children.
The number of teenagers who have experimented with smoking (yes, no).
The age (in years) of freshman students in a local college.

(Assignment continues on next page.)

Problem Set 2.2: Frequencies and Percent

Criterion: Identify frequencies and percent.

Instructions: State whether a cumulative frequency, relative frequency, relative percent, cumulative relative frequency, or cumulative percent is most appropriate for describing the following situations. For cumulative distributions, indicate whether these should be summarized from the top down or from the bottom up.

Data:

1. The frequency of businesses with at least 20 employees: __________

2. The frequency of college students with less than a 3.0 GPA: __________

3. The percentage of women completing 1, 2, 3, or 4 tasks simultaneously: __________

4. The proportion of pregnancies performed in public or private hospitals: __________

5. The percentage of alcoholics with more than 2 years of substance abuse: __________

Problem Set 2.3: Reading a Chart

Criterion: Locate data on a chart.

Instructions: Read the following and answer the questions.

Participant Characteristics	Count
	Type	Token
	Sex
Women Men Unknown	24,541 23,617 479	878,261 751,188 927
Total		1,630,376

1. Do men or women in this sample speak more words overall (Token Count)? _______________

2. Do men or women in this sample speak more different words (Type Count)? _______________

(Assignment continues on next page.)

Problem Set 2.4: Understanding Percentages

Criterion: Identify distribution type and number of people.

Instructions: Read the following and answer the questions.

Perceptions of same-sex marriage. In June 2016, a CBS News poll asked a sample of adults worldwide whether it should be legal or not legal for same-sex couples to marry (reported at http://www.pollingreport.com). The opinions of adults worldwide were as follows: 58%, legal; 33%, not legal; and 9%, unsure/no answer.

1. What type of distribution is this? __________________________

2. Knowing that 1,280 adults were polled nationwide, how many Americans polled felt that same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry? __________________________

Problem Set 2.5: Create an Ascending Frequency Table in SPSS

Criterion: Create an ascending frequency table in SPSS.

Instructions: Complete the steps below.

Data: The number of clicks per hour in forty different tweets: 1, 0, 8, 5, 2, 1, 8, 2, 0, 2, 6, 8, 7, 2, 0, 2, 7, 4, 6, 9, 3, 2, 9, 6, 9, 7, 5, 8, 8, 8, 9, 6, 5, 4, 8, 4, 5, 8, 5, 7

1. Open SPSS.

2. Click New Dataset in the New Files area and then click Open.

3. Click on the Variable View tab.

4. In the cell under Name, type Clicks.

5. The variable of Clicks is discrete, so enter 0 in the Decimals column.

6. Click on the Data View tab at the bottom of the screen.

7. Enter all 40 numbers from the dataset of number of clicks per hour in the column labeled Clicks.

8. In the Toolbar, click Analyze, select Descriptive Statistics, and then select Frequencies.

9. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the right side of the table.

10. Click OK. Copy and paste the ascending values frequency table into the Word document.

11. Go back to Data View, click Analyze, select Descriptive Statistics, and then select Frequencies.

Note: Your answers to this problem set should be two separate SPSS outputs. Save your Clicks data to use in the next two problems.

Problem Set 2.6: Construct a Bar Graph in SPSS

Criterion: Construct a bar graph in SPSS.

Instructions: The Clicks data from Problem Set 2.5 is discrete. Complete the following steps to create a bar chart to examine the data:

1. Go back to your SPSS Statistics Data Editor where your Clicks data should be displayed.

2. In the Toolbar, click Graphs, select Legacy Dialogs, and then select Bar.

3. Click Simple, then select Define. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the Category Axis box.

4. Click OK. Copy and paste the bar graph below. (Hint: You might need to use Copy Special and click the .jpeg option.)

5. Optional to answer: What is the shape of the distribution?

Problem Set 2.7: Construct a Pie Chart in SPSS

Criterion: Construct a pie chart in SPSS.

Instructions: Complete the following steps to create a pie chart to examine the Clicks data from Problem Set 2.5.

1. Go back to your SPSS Statistics Data Editor where your Clicks data should be displayed.

2. Select Data View, click Graphs, select Legacy Dialogs, and then select Pie.

3. Click Summaries for groups of case and then select Define. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the Define Slices By box.

4. Click OK. Copy and paste the pie graph below.

Problem Set 2.8: GSS Variables

Criterion: Choose variables for a study.

Instructions: Follow the directions, step by step, below.

a. Go to GSS Data Explorer.

· Click Register on the top right corner and sign up. You do not need to use your Capella email address.

· It may take a minute or two to register.

· Confirm your registration. You’ll receive a separate email with these instructions.

b. After you have registered, go to MyGSS and follow the steps below.

· Select Create project.

c. Label Project 4700_Last Name, then click Create Project.

d. Select Public to make your data available to the public. Click Continue.

e. Make sure there is a check beside Excel Workbook (data + metadata) and SPSS Control File.

f. Click Search Variables. The button is on the right hand side of the screen.

g. In the search box, type in the name or code of your first variable.

· When you find it, click on it.

h. Copy and paste the screen shot of information on it below.

i. Then, click Add to Cart.

j. In the search box, type in the name or code of your second variable.

· When you find it, click on it.

k. Copy and paste the screen shot of the information on it below.

l. Then, click Add to Cart.

m. Click on your cart. Take a screenshot of your variables.

Problem Set 2.9: Download Variables

Criterion: Download data for a study.

Instruction: The Clicks data from Problem Set 2.5 is discrete. Complete the following steps to create a bar chart to examine the data:

a. Go to GSS Data Explorer and sign in.

b. Click Actions, then Extract Data.

c. Name your extract 4700_Last Name, then click Next.

d. Choose your variable. Drag and drop all variables from your cart to the white area on the left.

e. Case selection (optional but recommended): Slide GSS year for this respondant into white area. Then enter a range of years (recommend one year).

f. Choose your output options. Check the mark next to Excel Workbook (data + metadata) and SPSS Control File.

g. Click Select certain years (if available) and then put checks next to the years you want.

h. Click Create Extract.

i. Wait for the arrow download icon, which can take a minute. Click the download icon when it appears.

j. A .tar.gz file will download. Once it’s downloaded, open it. There should be 3 files.

k. Take a screen shot of the open file and paste it below.

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