PSYC4700 - Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences

Week 4: Probability
Complete the following problems within this 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 4.1: Probability and Conditional Probability

Criterion: Compute the probability.
Instructions: Read the following and answer the questions.
Researchers are often interested in the likelihood of sampling outcomes. They may ask questions
about the likelihood that a person with a particular characteristic will be selected to participate in a
study. In this exercise, we will select a sample of one participant from the following hypothetical
student population of men and women living on or off campus. The population is summarized in the
following table.

  Male Female Row Totals

On campus 30 25 55

Off campus 20 25 45

Column Totals 50 50 100 1. What is the

probability of
selecting a male participant? 50:100
2. What is the probability of selecting a female participant? 50:100
3. What is the probability of selecting a student who lives on campus? 55:100
4. What is the probability of selecting a student who lives off campus? 45:100
5. What is the probability of selecting a male student, given that he lives off campus?
20:100
6. What is the probability of selecting a female student, given that she lives on campus?
25:100
7. What is the probability of selecting a male student, given that he lives on campus?
30:100
8. What is the probability of selecting a female student, given that she lives off campus?
25:100

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9. What is the probability of selecting a student who lives on campus, given that he is a
male? 30:55
10. What is the probability of selecting a student who lives off campus, given that he is a
male? 20:45
11. What is the probability of selecting a student who lives on campus, given that she is a
female? 25:55
12. What is the probability of selecting a student who lives off campus, given that she is a
female? 25:45

Problem Set 4.2: Determining Probability

Criterion: Determine the probability.
Instructions: Read the following and answer the question below.
Probability of first marriage among women. A National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) brief
report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2009 identified that about 6% of
women in the United States married for the first time by their 18th birthday, 50% married by their
25th birthday, and 74% married by their 30th birthday.
Based on these data, what is the probability that in a family with two daughters, the first and second
daughter will be married by each of the following ages?
1. 18 years of age: .0036
2. 25 years of age: .25
3. 30 years of age: .5476

Problem Set 4.3: Understanding Normal Distribution

Criterion: Solve problems with information about normal distributions and probabilities.
Instructions: Read the following and answer the questions.
Judging the humorousness of “lawyer” jokes. Stillman, Baumeister, and DeWall (2007) conducted a
study where participants listened to a variety of jokes. To determine how funny the jokes were, the
researchers asked a group of 86 undergraduates to rate the jokes on a scale from 1 (very unfunny)
to 21 (very funny). Participants rated a “lawyer joke” as one of the funniest jokes, with a rating of
14.48 ± 4.38 (M ± SD).
Assuming that these data are normally distributed:
1. What was the rating that marks the cutoff for the top 10% of participant ratings for this
joke? 20 is the cutoff for the top 10%
2. How many of the 86 undergraduates gave the joke a rating of at least 10? 73

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Problem Set 4.4: Calculating z Scores in SPSS

Criterion: Calculate z scores using SPSS.
Data: The following is a list of how senior citizens rated the Internet on a 1–10 scale, with 1 being
“really distrust it” and 10 being “completely trust it”: 8, 9, 4, 6, 8, 5, 1, 9, 7, 6
Instructions: Complete the following steps:
a. Enter the data into SPSS using the variable name Rating.
b. In the Toolbar, click Analyze, select Descriptive Statistics, and then select
Descriptives.
c. Select Rating and then click Arrow to send data over to the right side of the table.
Check the box Save Standardized Values as Variables.
d. Select Options, check the boxes Mean and Standard Deviation, and then deselect all
other boxes. Click Continue.
e. Click OK and then copy and paste the descriptive statistics table below.
f. Go to the Data View in SPSS. You will see that the z scores have been added to the file.
Paste a screenshot of the Data View, showing the z scores, into the Word document.
g. Answer: Which rating is closest to the z score of 0? 7

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Problem Set 4.5: Define Problem for Final Paper

Criterion: Define a problem in the social sciences.
Instructions: Write a well-written paragraph that includes the following:
a. Topic sentence establishing the topic and variables.
b. Evidence of what the problem is.
c. Evidence of how many people have the problem.

Trust! It has become a word which carries with it much power both within and without romantic
relationships. The issue of trust is a central imperative to many people who are in relationships
and those who seek to be involved in a romatic, emotionally fulfilling relationship. During the
entire “getting to know you” (courtship/dating) process, the prevailing thought in the mind of
those individuals seeking authentic connections is “can I trust you?” and it is usually this thought
which ultimately has to be answered in order to achieve a lasting relationship of equitable
exchange between two people. In a study conducted in 2015, it is noted that more than 75% of
respondents in relationships had been involved in some type of intimate partner violence
(Rodriguez et al.). Some of the variables we will review centering around trust will be marital
status, sex of our respondents, the age of our respondents, and the race of our respondents to
see how the trust we have in ourselves lend itself to the way in which we allow our trust in
others. Further, we will also seek to dive into whether negative experiences play a role in
developing distrust in subsequent relationships.

References:

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Problem Set 4.6: Literature Review, Part 1

Criterion: Synthesize sources.
Instructions: Write two well-written paragraphs that include the following:
a. Topic sentence with main idea.
b. Evidence from at least two different sources that support the main idea.
c. An analysis explaining how the evidence relates to the topic sentence or how the main
idea relates to the problem (established in Problem Set 4.5).

Trust is an essential component if we would like to develop a cohesive, healthy, and satisfying
relationship. According to Wilkins (2018), trust is the defined as a willingness to be vulnerable to
actions while having a firm belief in the reliability and truthfulness of the words and actions of
another to develop solidarity in understanding and goals attainment. As individuals, we
constantly seek ways to trust those with whom we are involved by watching how the person to
whom we seek to build relationship values are treating us. This is not something which happens
in an instant, instead, this is a steady realignment and readjustment which changes over the
course of the relationship and degree to which the relationship continues to grow stronger and
more steady.

Acording to Stanley, Rhoads, and Whitton (2010), in most relationships, it is expected that one
partner (usually the woman or feminine party) will give in to pursuit of their own personal goals
in order to invest in the goals of their partner which ultimately will be beneficial to both partners
in the long run. Often times, when people have compromised against their own self-interest in
previous relationships, and that relationship did not end in their favor, those individuals are not
so easy to convince with this “go-along to get along” mentality and have very deep seated
emotional trauma related to being able to relinquish such “control” over their lives and the
difficulty in being able to trust ultimately will bring friction to the relationship in lieu of being able
to appropriately build solidarity between the couple.

References:

Rodriguez, L. M., DiBello, A. M., Øverup, C. S., & Neighbors, C. (2015). The price of Distrust:
Trust, anxious attachment, jealousy, and partner abuse. Partner Abuse, 6(3), 298–319.
https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.6.3.298

Stanley, S. M., Rhoades, G. K., & Whitton, S. W. (2010). Commitment: Functions, formation,
and the securing of Romantic attachment. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 2(4), 243–
257. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-2589.2010.00060.x

Wilkins, C. H. (2018). Effective engagement requires trust and being trustworthy. Medical Care,
56(Suppl 1). https://doi.org/10.1097/mlr.0000000000000953