HOLY ANGEL UNIVERSITY

School of Nursing and Allied Medical Sciences

NUBIOSTAT (Biostatistics)

Assignment 1
Introduction to Data Analysis in an Evidence-Based Practice Environment

Place your answer on the space provided before each number.

1. For each of the following, indicate which is a variable and which is a constant:
Constant a. The number of minutes in an hour
Variable b. Patients' diastolic blood pressure
Constant c. Pi (π)--e.g., for finding the circumference of a circle
Variabled. Level of anxiety among patients with cancer

2. For each of the following research questions, identify the independent variable and the
dependent variable:
a. Is a person's age (IV) related to his/her psychosocial adjustment(DV) following a
burn injury?
b. How do physically handicapped children differ from non-handicapped children (IV)
with respect to health self-concepts (DV)?
c. Do patients who administer their own pain medication (IV) have lower pain ratings
(DV)than patients whose pain medication is administered by nurses (IV)?
d. Is the intracranial pressure of comatose patients (DV) affected by the presence
of conversing visitors (IV)?
e. How does a bonnet compare to a stockinette (IV)in preventing heat loss in newborns
(DV)?

3. For each of the variables listed below, indicate which is discrete and which is
continuous:
Discrete a. Number of beds in a hospital
Continuous b. Height in inches or centimeters
Discrete c. Number of pregnancies a woman has had
Continuous d. Amount of time spent sleeping
Continuous e. Body temperature measured in Fahrenheit/Celsius degrees

4. For each of the variables listed below, indicate whether the measure is nominal, ordinal,
interval, or ratio:
Interval a. Degrees on the Celsius scale
Ordinal b. Runners’ ranking in a race (1st, 2nd, etc.)
Ratio c. Number of cigarettes smoked per day
Interval d. Scores on a 100-point scale measuring nurses’ empathy
Nominal e. Adherence versus nonadherence to a treatment regimen
Ordinal f. Academic rank (professor, associate professor, etc.)
Nominal g. Type of delivery (vaginal vs. cesarean)
Ratio h. White blood cell count