PSYC 355
SPSS HOMEWORK: INDEPENDENT-SAMPLES T TEST ASSIGNMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
This assignment is designed to increase your statistical literacy and proficiency in conducting
and interpreting the independent-samples t test. You will be completing two independent-
samples t tests in SPSS, using data that are related to specific research scenarios in the
behavioral sciences, such as psychology, social work, and counseling. Behind the scenes
knowledge of how this test is conducted is fundamental to being able to understand and apply
research in your related field to your practice. Additionally, SPSS skills are professionally
valuable, as it is one of the most commonly used statistical software packages in behavioral
science settings, both academic and professional.
INSTRUCTIONS
•This assignment includes two problem sets that contain research scenarios and related
questions.
•For each scenario, you will run an analysis in SPSS. The required product will include
the SPSS output, an APA-style Results section describing the results, and the appropriate
graph inserted as a Figure in current APA style.
•For each scenario, you will create a new SPSS data file with the data from the problem
scenario. ALL variable names in your SPSS data files must include your initials, so that
they show up in your SPSS output and graph. For example, for someone with the initials
ABC creating a variable of memory scores, the variable could be named
“ABC_mem_scores” or “Mem_Scores_ABC”, etc.
•For all problems, interpret results based on an alpha level of = .05.
Please review the Watch: SPSS Homework Tutorial for the Independent Samples t test in
this module for directions on how to run the statistical test, as well as the Watch: Results
Sections for the Independent-samples t test in APA Style, which includes a template for
completing the APA-style Results sections for the independent-samples t test. The scenarios
begin on the next page.
Problem Set 1: The independent-samples t test
Research Scenario: A social psychologist working for a marketing department wants to study
the effect of scenario descriptions on charitable giving to a child hunger organization. He
devises two scenarios: one in which an employee of the charity describes child hunger using
facts and information (Group 1), and one in which an employee of the charity describes child
hunger using an anecdotal example with one “identifiable victim” (Small, 2016) (Group 2).
Eight people are interviewed in each group. After hearing the employee read the child hunger
scenario, the participants are then asked to state how much money they would donate to the
charity to help end child hunger. The data appear in the table below.
Using this table, enter the data into a new SPSS data file and run an independent-
samples t test to determine to determine whether there is a difference in the amount of
PSYC 355
money donated between the two groups. Remember to put your initials within any and all
variable names. Create a boxplot to show the difference between the groups. Follow the
directions below the table to complete this problem set.
Factual
Informative
Scenario
Anecdotal
“Identifiable
Victim” Scenario
25
10
25
15
30
20
10
15
45
15
35
35
30
50
45
30
1. Paste SPSS output. (10 pts)
2. Write an APA-style Results section based on your analysis. Include your boxplot as an
APA-style Figure, with figure number and title, as demonstrated in the Results section
presentation. (Results = 12 pts; Figure = 8 pts)
Results
PSYC 355
An independent-samples t test was conducted to determine if there’s a difference between
donation amounts based on the information given by two employee groups. Group 1 of
employees uses factual information, while group 2 uses anecdotal examples. Figure 1 illustrates
the distributions of donation amounts for each group. The results show an insignificant
difference between the group that received factual information (M = 18.7, SD = 7.4) and the
group that received anecdotal examples (M = 35.6, SD = 11.1), t(14) = -3.56, p = .459. Because
the result of the test is insignificant, we fail to reject the null hypothesis.
Figure 1
Donation amount based on information given
(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)
Problem Set 2: The independent-samples t test
Research Scenario: A researcher wants to investigate whether residents at an assisted living
facility who attend daily activities have higher life satisfaction than those who do not. The
researcher administers the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985). Did residents who
attend daily activities (n = 10) have higher SLS scores than those who did not (n = 11)?
Using this table, enter the data into a new SPSS data file and run an independent-
samples t test to evaluate the claim that residents who attended daily activities have
higher SLS scores than those who did not. Remember to put your initials within any and
all variable names. Create a boxplot to show the difference between the groups. Follow
the directions below the table to complete the homework.
PSYC 355
Daily
Activities
33
22
27
16
29
30
21
36
13
10
24
No Daily 8
Activities 20
16
16
9
12
25
13
19
12
1. Paste SPSS output. (10 pts)
PSYC 355
2. Write an APA-style Results section based on your analysis. Include your boxplot as an
APA-style Figure, with figure number and title, as demonstrated in the Results section
presentation. (Results = 12 pts; Figure = 8 pts)
Results
An independent-samples t test was conducted to determine if there’s a higher life satisfaction
between residents who attend daily activities and those who do not. Group 1 of residents
engage in daily activities, while group 2 does not. Figure 1 illustrates the satisfaction levels
for each group. The results show an insignificant difference between the group that is active
daily (M = 23.7, SD = 8.7) and the group that is not active daily (M = 15.8, SD = 5.7), t(19) =
2.47, p = .1. Because the result of the test is insignificant, we fail to reject the null hypothesis.
Figure 1
Satisfaction levels for residents
