Part 2 of SPSS

Findings

Research Question

RQ1: Is there a difference in learning attitude among traditional, adult, and senior vocational learners at a Northwestern public college?

The null hypothesis for this study was:

H01: There is no significant difference in learning attitude as measure by the Learning Attitude Learning Inventory among traditional, adult, and senior vocational learners at a Northwestern public college.

Data obtained for the dependent variable learning attitude for traditional, adult, and senior learners can be found in Table 1.

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics Comment by Jillian Wendt: Note how this table is formatted. This is the correct APA formatting. While SPSS does have options for cutting and pasting tables in APA format, the formatting is often not aligned with APA 6th Edition guidelines. Thus, it is essential for you to type out your tables according to APA 6th Edition guideslines, such as the example shown here.

Group M SD N

TL 18.70 2.91 10 Comment by Jillian Wendt: If using abbreviations, make sure that you define your abbreviations in-text prior to presenting them in a table.

AL 19.67 1.73 9

SL 22.82 4.47 11

Total 20.50 3.70 30

Results

Data screening

Data screening was conducted on each group’s dependent variables (TL, AL, SL attitude) regarding data inconsistencies and outliers. The researcher sorted the data on each variable and scanned for inconsistencies. No data errors or inconsistencies were identified. Box and whiskers plots were used to detect outliers on each dependent variable. No outliers were identified. See Figure 1 for box and whisker plot.

Figure 1. Box and Whisker Plot for Traditional, Adult, and Senior Learners.

Assumptions

An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the first null hypothesis that looked at the differences among type of learner and their learning attitudes. The ANOVA required that the assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance are met. Normality was examined using a Shapiro-Wilk test. Shapiro-Wilk was used because the sample size was less than 50. No violations of normality were found. See Table 2 for Shapiro-Wilk test.

Table 2.

Tests of Normality

Group Shapiro-Wilk

Statistic df Significance

TL .88 10 .14

AL .92 9 .40

SL .89 11 .15

The assumption of homogeneity of variance was examined using the Levene’s test. A violation was found (p = .009) so the assumption of homogeneity was not met. However, the ANOVA is considered a robust test against the homogeneity assumption (Warner, 2013, p. 474). For this reason, the researcher continued with the analysis. See Table 3 for Levene’s Test.

Table 3.

Levene’s Test of Equality of Error Variance

F df1 df2 Significance

5.65 2 27 .01

Results for Null Hypothesis One

An ANOVA was used to test the first null hypothesis; the differences in learning attitude among traditional, adult, and senior vocational learners. The first null hypothesis was rejected at a 95% confidence level were F(2, 27) = 4.40, p = .02, 2 = .25. The effect size was very large. See Table 4 Tests of Between-Subjects Effects.

Table 4.

Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source Type III Sum of df Mean Square F Sig. Partial Eta

Squares Squared

Corrected 97.76 2 48.88 4.40 .02 .25

Model

Intercept 12395.15 1 12395.15 1116.55 .00 .98

Group 97.76 2 48.88 4.40 .02 .25

Error 13005.00 30

Corrected 397.50 29

Total

Because the null was rejected, post hoc analysis was conducted using a Tukey Test HSD. There was a significant difference between the attitude scores of traditional (M = 18.7, SD = 2.9) and senior (M = 22.8, SD = 4.5) vocational learners (p = .02). See Table 5 for Multiple Comparisons Groups.

Multiple Comparisons

(I) Group (J) Group Mean Std. Error Sig. 95% Confidence Interval

Difference Lower Bound Upper Bound

TL AL -.97 1.53 .80 -4.76 2.83

SL -4.12 1.45 .02 -7.73 -.51

AL TL .97 1.53 .80 -2.83 4.76

SL -3.15 1.50 .11 -6.86 .56

SL TL 4.12 1.46 .02 .51 7.73

AL 3.15 1.50 .11 -.56 6.86