Final Exam—Review Sheet
Tests of Significance
z-test
t-test
F-test
when each test should be usedwhen each test should be used
Survey research
Goals (simple description and identifying patterns)
Primary advantages and disadvantages of using surveys
Types of surveys
Mail or self-administered questionnaires
Telephone
Face to face interviews
Advantages and disadvantages of each.
Guidelines for writing questions
Use very simple words and grammar.
Avoid leading questions.
Be care in the words you chose.
Avoid double-barreled questions.
Avoid negative items.
Decide if you should use a direct or indirect question.
Statistics used with surveys
Describing results of surveys
Single item
Always report how many people filled out the survey.
Report the appropriate measure of central tendency for each
variable.
Multiple item questionnaire.
Always report how many people filled out questionnaire.
Determine which items should be added together.
Item analysis
Identifies which items to keep and which items to drop.
Describes how consistent the kept items are with each other.
Cronbach’s alpha or coefficient alpha.
Factor analysis
Identifies the number of variables actually being measured.
Identifies which items should be grouped together.
Interpretation of variables being measured is a judgment call.
Correlation
Exploring relationships among variables
Correlation coefficient (symbolized by "r")
Direction (positive-direct, negative-inverse, independent)
Magnitude of the coefficient (Guilford’s guidelines)
Steps involved in a correlation analysis
State hypothesis
Calculate the correlation coefficient.
Calculate the d.f.
Look up the critical value in the table.
Multiple correlation vs. partial correlation
Regression
Goal (prediction)
Simple linear regression.
Line of best fit
Provides two important pieces of information.
Y-intercept and slope
Determining if slope is significant
Accuracy of prediction (r2)
Multiple linear regression:
More than one independent variable.
Regression line changes to reflect additional slopes for each
independent variable.
Accuracy of prediction is now symbolized by R2
Ethical concerns
Ethical issues involving research subjects
Principle of nonmaleficence/harm (physical, psychological, legal)
Principle of beneficence/deception (debriefing)
Principle of autonomy/Informed consent
Principle of justice/creating new inequities
Privacy, anonymity and confidentiality (privacy, anonymity,
confidentiality)
Integrity during execution of a study
Do not tamper with the data
Provide compete description of the procedures.
All materials for the study should be available upon request.
Conclusions should fit the data.
Previous Material
Safeguards employed in scientific discovery
Comparison between qualitative and quantitative methods
Guidelines for evaluating qualitative research
Advantages and Disadvantages of the participant observation techniques
Strengths and weaknesses of experimental research
Advantages and disadvantages of content analysis