Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Using Statistical Methods in Social Science Research With A Complete Spss Guide 3Rd Edition Soleman H Abu Bader Full Chapter PDF
Using Statistical Methods in Social Science Research With A Complete Spss Guide 3Rd Edition Soleman H Abu Bader Full Chapter PDF
https://ebookmass.com/product/using-statistics-in-the-social-and-
health-sciences-with-spss-excel-1st/
https://ebookmass.com/product/a-guide-to-doing-statistics-in-
second-language-research-using-spss-and-r-second-language-
acquisition-research-series-ebook-pdf-version/
https://ebookmass.com/product/conducting-research-social-and-
behavioral-science-methods-2nd-edition-ebook-pdf/
https://ebookmass.com/product/social-research-methods-5th-
edition-alan-bryman-edward-bell/
SPSS Survival Manual: A step by step guide to data
analysis using IBM SPSS 6th Edition Julie Pallant
https://ebookmass.com/product/spss-survival-manual-a-step-by-
step-guide-to-data-analysis-using-ibm-spss-6th-edition-julie-
pallant/
https://ebookmass.com/product/a-practical-guide-to-using-
qualitative-research-with-randomized-controlled-trials-alicia-
ocathain/
https://ebookmass.com/product/survey-research-methods-applied-
social-research-methods-book-1-5th-edition-ebook-pdf/
https://ebookmass.com/product/brymans-social-research-
methods-6th-edition-clark/
https://ebookmass.com/product/statistical-methods-for-survival-
data-analysis-3rd-edition-lee/
Using Statistical Methods
in Social Science Research
Using Statistical
Methods in Social
Science Research
With a Complete SPSS Guide
THIRD EDITION
Soleman H. Abu-Bader
Howard University
1
1 1
1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.
ISBN 978–0–19–752243–1
ISBN 978–0–19–752248–6
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by LSC Communications, United States of America
To Buthaina, Nagham, Layanne, and Samer, my great family, friends, and
support system, with love and appreciation.
Table of Contents
Preface xiii
List of Figures xvii
List of Tables xxi
List of SPSS Screen Captures xxvii
vii
viii Table o f C ontents
Summary 289
Key Terms 290
Practical Exercises 290
References 481
Index 483
Preface
It is with great happiness and satisfaction that I was able to complete this newly edited ver-
sion of Using Statistical Methods in Social Science Research: With a Complete SPSS Guide. Since
the release of the second edition in 2011, many students and faculty, including myself, and
researchers around the country and abroad have used it either as a required textbook or a
recommended reference for their statistic courses and/or for their research projects. Over the
years, I have received a lot of feedback and comments about the book, its organization, details,
and how simple it is to follow, especially its step-by-step SPSS guides. At the same time,
many have also recommended the addition of new topics, data evaluation methods, examples,
and tables. Moreover, since 2011, IBM has released many new SPSS versions that necessitate
the need to update all SPSS screens and output, which originally were generated using SPSS
Version 18.
Taking all of these factors into consideration, and to provide students, faculty, and
researchers with the most-up-to date SPSS version, all chapters were carefully reviewed and
updated. In particular, the following summarizes all revisions, additions, and changes made
in this edition:
• Updated all SPSS Version 18.0 screens and output with the latest SPSS Version 26.0.
• Updated all practical examples.
• Updated all practical exercises and added new hand calculations, multiple-choice, true–false, and
fill-in-the blank exercises.
• Added key terms at the end of each chapter.
• Replaced most of the tables and graphs (histograms, Q-Q plots, scatterplots, etc.).
• Added two new SPSS data files: Experimental Design and Immigrants (see appendix A).
• Added new sample size tables for statistical power levels of .90 and .95 (chapters 7 to 12).
• Added new general mathematical rules (chapter 1).
• Extended the discussion about reliability (chapter 1).
• Added a new section about measurement errors (chapter 1).
• Added a new SPSS example for Kuder-Richardson 20 reliability analysis (chapter 2).
• Added a new section about grouped percentile and percentile ranks (chapter 4).
• Updated the content about skewness and added a new section about kurtosis and new figures
(chapter 5).
• Added a new section about normality tests (chapter 5).
• Updated the content about power and effect size (chapter 6).
xiii
xiv P re face
Data Files
This book uses the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26.0 as the main com-
puter software to organize, summarize, and analyze the data. This program was chosen because
it is one of the most popular computer software programs and is available in most university
computer labs. Users of other statistical software, such as Excel, R Stat, SAS, or Stata, or users
of handheld calculators still can greatly benefit from this book because it provides a detailed
discussion of the process of organizing and summarizing data, selecting the appropriate test
statistic, understanding the test and its underlying assumptions, and writing and presenting
the results in summary tables and graphs. These same descriptive and inferential statistics can
be computed by any other computer software or hand calculators (appendix B).
Finally, practical examples and exercises that are discussed in this book rely on eight SPSS
data files. These files can be obtained from Learning Link at Oxford University Press: www.
oup.com/he/abu-bader3e. Appendix A describes these files in detail.
P re face xv
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to my Data Analysis and Quantitative Methods students at Howard University
for their feedback and comments, especially the 2018–2020 classes. Thank you also to my
graduate assistants, Latoya Hogg and Imani Smith, for their help, suggestions, and edits.
A special thank you and my sincere appreciation goes to my former research assistant and
current colleague, Dr. Tiffanie Jones, who took her time to review each chapter and provided
very helpful constructive comments and corrections. For that I am grateful.
I also would like to extend special thanks to Dr. Thomas O’Hare of Boston College and
the Oxford University Press editors and staff, Sarah Butcher, Stefano Imbert, Alyssa Palazzo,
and Melissa Yanuzzi, whose suggestions enhanced this new edition.
List of Figures
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1: Scatterplot for Burnout and Turnover 20
Figure 1.2: Scatterplot for Job Satisfaction and Turnover 20
Figure 1.3: Scatterplot for Workload and Burnout 21
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1: Bar Graph for Levels of Education 82
Figure 3.2: Histogram for Age 87
Figure 3.3: Histogram for Age by Gender 89
Figure 3.4: Frequency Polygon for Age 90
Figure 3.5: Frequency Polygon for Age 93
Figure 3.6: Cumulative Frequency Polygon for Cognitive Status 93
Figure 3.7: Cumulative Percentage Polygon for Cognitive Status 95
Figure 3.8: Stem-and-Leaf Plot for Cognitive Status 96
Figure 3.9: Stem-and-Leaf Plot for Cognitive Status—Counterclockwise 97
Figure 3.10: Stem-and-Leaf Plot for Age 99
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1: Boxplot for English Proficiency Scores 125
Figure 4.2: Boxplot for Burnout 129
Figure 4.3: Boxplot for Burnout by Gender 131
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1: Standard Normal Distribution 137
Figure 5.2: Positively Skewed Distribution 138
Figure 5.3: Negatively Skewed Distribution 138
Figure 5.4: Leptokurtic Distribution 139
Figure 5.5: Platykurtic Distribution 139
xvii
xviii L ist o f Figures
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1: Directional Relationships between Variables 171
Figure 6.2: Two-Tailed Rejection Area 177
Figure 6.3: One-Tailed Rejection Area—Positive Relationship 177
Figure 6.4: One-Tailed Rejection Area—Negative Relationship 178
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1: Venn Diagram—Correlation between Two Variables 195
Figure 7.2: Scatterplot Illustrating Positive Relationship 197
Figure 7.3: Scatterplot Illustrating Negative Relationship 197
Figure 7.4: Scatterplot Illustrating No Relationship 198
Figure 7.5: Partial Correlation Venn Diagram 203
Figure 7.6: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Physical Health 207
Figure 7.7: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Life Satisfaction 207
Figure 7.8: Venn Diagram for Physical Health and Life Satisfaction 212
Figure 7.9: Scatterplot for Physical Health and Life Satisfaction 213
Figure 7.10: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Emotional Balance 217
Figure 7.11: Point-Biserial Correlation between Sickness and Emotional Balance 218
Figure 7.12: Scatterplot for the Correlation between Sickness and Emotional Balance 220
Figure 7.13: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Self-Esteem 223
Figure 7.14: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Depression 223
Figure 7.15: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Square Root Depression 224
Figure 7.16: A Matrix Scatterplot 225
Figure 7.17: Venn Diagram for Self-Esteem and Depression Controlling for Emotional
Balance 229
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1: Two Means Comparison 234
Figure 8.2: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Age 242
Figure 8.3: Observed and Hypothetical Median Age 249
L ist o f Figures xix
Chapter 9
Figure 9.1: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Pretest Anxiety—Experiment Group 275
Figure 9.2: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Pretest Anxiety—Control Group 275
Figure 9.3: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Posttest Anxiety—Experiment Group 275
Figure 9.4: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Posttest Anxiety—Control Group 276
Figure 9.5: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Emotional Balance 286
Figure 9.6: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Cognitive Status 287
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1: Multiple Means Comparison 294
Figure 10.2: Sources of Variability in ANOVA and ANCOVA 299
Figure 10.3: Means Plot—Self-Esteem by Marital Status 310
Figure 10.4: Kruskal-Wallis H Mean Ranks Comparisons—Self-Esteem by Marital
Status 314
Figure 10.5: Scatterplot—Emotional Balance and Self-Esteem 318
Figure 10.6: ANCOVA—Adjusted Means Plot 327
Chapter 12
Figure 12.1: Scatterplot of Y by X 366
Figure 12.2: Histogram and Q-Q Plot for Cognitive Status 371
Figure 12.3: Scatterplot for Self-Esteem by Cognitive Status 372
Figure 12.4: Scatterplot for Predicted Scores and Residual Scores 373
Figure 12.5: Histogram and Normal Probability Plot for Self-Esteem Residuals 373
Figure 12.6: Scatterplot for Self-Esteem by Cognitive Status 382
List of Tables
Chapter 1
Table 1.1: Tests Scores in Statistics Courses 2
Table 1.2: Characteristics of Levels of Measurement 9
Table 1.3: Comparison of Reliability Coefficients 16
Table 1.4: Construct Validity 17
Chapter 2
Table 2.1: Immigrants Survey—Instrumentation Codebook 35
Table 2.2: Statistics Table for Immigrants’ Data File 48
Table 2.3: Frequency Table for “Age” 50
Table 2.4: Frequency Table for “Gender” 50
Table 2.5: Frequency Table for “USBorn” 51
Table 2.6: Frequency Table for “Esteem5” 51
Table 2.7: Cronbach’s Alpha for Self-Esteem 60
Table 2.8: Inter-Item Correlation Matrix for Self-Esteem 60
Table 2.9: Inter-Item Correlation Summary Statistics 60
Table 2.10: Item-Total Statistics 61
Table 2.11: KR20 Reliability for Promotion 62
Table 2.12: Inter-Item Correlation Matrix for Promotion 63
Table 2.13: Inter-Item Correlation Summary Statistics for Promotion 63
Table 2.14: Item-Total Statistics for Promotion 63
Table 2.15: Raw Data 64
Chapter 3
Table 3.1: Raw Data 71
Table 3.2: Array Data 72
Table 3.3: Frequency Distribution Table 73
Table 3.4: Statistics 74
xxi
xxii L I S T O F TA B L E S
Chapter 4
Table 4.1: English Proficiency Scores 106
Table 4.2: English Proficiency Scores—Array Data 107
Table 4.3: English Proficiency Scores—Frequency Table 108
Table 4.4: English Proficiency Scores—Mean Deviation 110
Table 4.5: English Proficiency Scores—Variance 112
Table 4.6: Exact-Limits Frequency Table for Cognitive Status 115
Table 4.7: English Proficiency Scores—Quartiles 117
Table 4.8: Descriptive Statistics for Gender and Job Satisfaction 121
Table 4.9: Mean Deviation for Satisfaction 123
Table 4.10: Frequency Table for Absolute Deviations from Mean 123
Table 4.11: Descriptive Statistics for Burnout 128
Table 4.12: Descriptive Statistics for Burnout by Gender 130
Chapter 5
Table 5.1: Descriptive Statistics for Supervision and Promotion 146
Table 5.2: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for Supervision and Promotion 147
Table 5.3: Normality Tests for Supervision and Promotion 147
Table 5.4: Descriptive Statistics for Reversed Supervision 153
Table 5.5: Descriptive Statistics for Reversed Supervision 155
Table 5.6: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for the Square Root of Supervision 155
Table 5.7: Normality Tests for the Square Root of Supervision 156
Table 5.8: Descriptive Statistics for Promotion and Its Standard Scores 159
Chapter 6
Table 6.1: Experimental Pretest–Posttest Control Group Design 172
Table 6.2: Errors in Hypothesis Testing 174
Table 6.3: Case Processing Summary Table for Depression 183
Table 6.4: Descriptive Statistics Table for Depression 183
Table 6.5: Guidelines for Selecting a Statistical Test 186
Chapter 7
Table 7.1: Interpretations of Correlation Coefficients 196
Table 7.2: Minimum Sample Size Required for Pearson’s Correlation 201
Table 7.3: Descriptive Statistics for Physical Health and Life Satisfaction 205
L ist o f tables xxiii
Table 7.4: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for Physical Health and Life
Satisfaction 206
Table 7.5: Normality Tests for Physical Health and Life Satisfaction 206
Table 7.6: Descriptive Statistics for Physical Health and Life Satisfaction 210
Table 7.7: Pearson’s Correlation between Physical Health and Life Satisfaction 210
Table 7.8: Spearman’s rho Correlation between Physical Health and Life Satisfaction 210
Table 7.9: Correlation Matrix (N = 90) 212
Table 7.10: Descriptive Statistics for Emotional Balance 216
Table 7.11: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for Emotional Balance 216
Table 7.12: Normality Tests for Emotional Balance 217
Table 7.13: Pearson’s Correlation between Sickness and Emotional Balance 218
Table 7.14: Correlation Matrix—Sickness and Emotional Balance (N = 90) 219
Table 7.15: Descriptive Statistics for Self-Esteem and Depression 221
Table 7.16: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for Self-Esteem and Depression 222
Table 7.17: Normality Tests for Self-Esteem and Depression 222
Table 7.18: Descriptive Statistics for Square Root Depression 223
Table 7.19: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for Self-Esteem and Depression 224
Table 7.20: Normality Tests for Square Root Depression 224
Table 7.21: Descriptive Statistics 227
Table 7.22: Pearson’s and Partial Correlation Coefficients 227
Table 7.23: Partial Correlation Matrix 229
Chapter 8
Table 8.1: Sample Size for One-Sample Case t-Test 236
Table 8.2: Sample Size for Independent t-Test (per Group) 239
Table 8.3: Descriptive Statistics for Age 241
Table 8.4: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for Age 241
Table 8.5: Normality Tests for Age 242
Table 8.6: Descriptive Statistics for Age 244
Table 8.7: One-Sample Case t-Test 244
Table 8.8: One-Sample Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test Summary Results 247
Table 8.9: One-Sample Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test Statistics 248
Table 8.10: Descriptive Statistics for PTSD 250
Table 8.11: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for PTSD 251
Table 8.12: Normality Tests for PTSD 251
Table 8.13: Descriptive Statistics for Square Root of PTSD 252
Table 8.14: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for Square Root of PTSD 252
Table 8.15: Normality Tests for Square Root of PTSD 252
Table 8.16: Group Statistics—Square Root of PTSD by Country 255
Table 8.17: Independent t-Test—Square Root of PTSD by Country 255
Table 8.18: Mann-Whitney U Mean Ranks—PTSD by Country 258
Table 8.19: Mann-Whitney U Test Statistics—PTSD by Country 259
Table 8.20: Results of the Independent t-Test—PTSD by Country 260
Table 8.21: Results of the Mann-Whitney U Test—PTSD by Country 260
xxiv L I S T O F TA B L E S
Chapter 9
Table 9.1: Sample Size for Dependent t-Test 268
Table 9.2: Descriptive Statistics for Pretest–Posttest Control Group Design 272
Table 9.3: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for Levels of Anxiety 274
Table 9.4: Normality Tests for Levels of Anxiety 274
Table 9.5: Descriptive Statistics—Pretest–Posttest Levels of Anxiety per Group 278
Table 9.6: Correlation between Pretest–Posttest Levels of Anxiety per Group 278
Table 9.7: Dependent t-Test—Pretest–Posttest Levels of Anxiety per Group 279
Table 9.8: Wilcoxon Test—Pretest–Posttest Levels of Anxiety per Group 281
Table 9.9: Wilcoxon Test—Pretest–Posttest Levels of Anxiety per Group 282
Table 9.10: Results of the Dependent t-Test for Levels of Anxiety (N = 30) 283
Table 9.11: Results of Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test for Levels of Anxiety (N = 30) 284
Table 9.12: Descriptive Statistics for Emotional Balance and Cognitive Status 285
Table 9.13: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for Emotional Balance and Cognitive
Status 286
Table 9.14: Normality Tests for Emotional Balance and Cognitive Status 286
Table 9.15: Descriptive Statistics for Emotional Balance and Cognitive Status 287
Table 9.16: Correlation between Emotional Balance and Cognitive Status 287
Table 9.17: Dependent t-Test—Emotional Balance and Cognitive Status 288
Table 9.18: Wilcoxon Ranks—Emotional Balance and Cognitive Status 288
Table 9.19: Wilcoxon Test—Emotional Balance and Cognitive Status 288
Table 9.20: Results of the Dependent t-Test for Emotional Balance and Cognitive
Status 289
Table 9.21: Results of Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test for Emotional Balance and Cognitive
Status 289
Chapter 10
Table 10.1: Types of Analysis of Variance and Covariance 297
Table 10.2: Sample Size for One-Way ANOVA/ANCOVA 300
Table 10.3: Levene’s Test for Self-Esteem by Marital Status 304
Table 10.4: One-Way ANOVA Descriptive Statistics—Self-Esteem by Marital Status 307
Table 10.5: One-Way ANOVA—Self-Esteem by Marital Status 308
Table 10.6: Robust Tests—Self-Esteem by Marital Status 308
Table 10.7: Post Hoc Tests—Self-Esteem by Marital Status 309
Table 10.8: Kruskal-Wallis H Test Hypothesis Testing—Self-Esteem by Marital Status 313
Table 10.9: Kruskal-Wallis H Test Summary—Self-Esteem by Marital Status 313
Table 10.10: Nonparametric Post Hoc Test—Self-Esteem by Marital Status 313
Table 10.11: One-Way ANOVA Summary Table—Self-Esteem by Marital Status 316
Table 10.12: Tukey HDS Multiple Comparisons —Self-Esteem by Marital Status 316
Table 10.13: Results of Kruskal-Wallis H Test—Self-Esteem by Marital Status 316
Table 10.14: Levene’s Test for Self-Esteem by Marital Status by Emotional Balance 317
Table 10.15: Pearson’s Correlation—Emotional Balance and Self-Esteem 318
Table 10.16: ANCOVA Custom Table—Homogeneity of Regression 319
Table 10.17: ANCOVA—Descriptive Statistics—Unadjusted Means 325
Table 10.18: ANCOVA—Tests of Between-Subjects Effects 325
Table 10.19: ANCOVA—Adjusted Grand Mean 326
L ist o f tables xxv
Chapter 11
Table 11.1: Two-Way Contingency Table (3 * 3 Table)—Anxiety Disorder by Race 336
Table 11.2: Sample Size for Chi-Square Test 340
Table 11.3: Observed and Expected Frequencies for Levels of BMI 343
Table 11.4: Frequencies for Body Mass Index 345
Table 11.5: Chi-Square Test Statistics 345
Table 11.6: Results of Chi-Square Goodness-of-Fit for Levels of BMI 346
Table 11.7: Observed and Expected Frequencies for Gender by BMI 347
Table 11.8: A 2 × 3 Contingency Table for Gender by BMI 351
Table 11.9: Results of Chi-Square Test of Association—Gender by BMI 353
Table 11.10: Measures of Association—Gender by BMI 353
Table 11.11: Results of Chi-Square Test—Gender by BMI 354
Table 11.12: Observed and Expected Frequencies—Race by Sickness 355
Table 11.13: A 2 × 2 Contingency Table—Race by Sickness 357
Table 11.14: Results of Chi-Square Test of Association—Race by Sickness 358
Table 11.15: Measures of Association—Race by Sickness 358
Table 11.16: Results of Chi-Square Test—Sickness by Race 359
Chapter 12
Table 12.1: Minimum Sample Size Required for Simple Linear Regression 368
Table 12.2: Descriptive Statistics for Cognitive Status 370
Table 12.3: Calculations of Skewness and Kurtosis for Cognitive Status 371
Table 12.4: Normality Tests for Cognitive Status 371
Table 12.5: Correlation between Self-Esteem by Cognitive Status 372
Table 12.6: Analysis of Residuals 374
Table 12.7: Regression Model Summary 379
Table 12.8: ANOVA Summary Table 379
Table 12.9: Unstandardized and Standardized Coefficients 380
Table 12.10: The Results of Simple Linear Regression—Self-Esteem by Cognitive
Status 382
Appendix A
Table A.1: Job Satisfaction SPSS Variables List 389
Table A.2: Mental Health SPSS Variables List 390
Table A.3: Refugees SPSS Variables List 390
Table A.4: Senior Citizens SPSS Variables List 391
Table A.5: Well-Being SPSS Variables List 392
xxvi L I S T O F TA B L E S
Appendix B
Table B.1.1: Correlational Tests Raw Data 393
Table B.1.2: Raw Data of Scores 395
Table B.1.3: Z Scores for X and Y 396
Table B.1.4: Calculating Spearman’s Rho Correlational Coefficient 398
Table B.2.1: Raw Data for Two Groups 404
Table B.2.2: Calculation of One-Sample Wilcoxon 408
Table B.2.3: Calculating Mann-Whitney U Test 415
Table B.3.1: Raw Data for English as a Second Language 417
Table B.3.2: Calculations of Differences between Paired Scores 418
Table B.3.3: Calculation of Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test 422
Table B.4.1: Raw Data for Pretest—Posttest Stress 425
Table B.4.2: Statistics for the Sample and Groups 426
Table B.4.3: ANOVA General Summary Table 429
Table B.4.4: ANOVA Summary Table for Posttest Stress by Marital Status 429
Table B.4.5: Calculating Kruskal-Wallis H Test 433
Table B.4.6: Statistics for Covariate (X) and Dependent Variable (Y) for the Sample and
Groups 436
Table B.4.7: ANOVA Summary Table—Pretest Stress (X-Covariate) by Marital
Status 437
Table B.4.8: ANOVA Summary Table—Posttest Stress (Y-Dependent Variable) by Marital
Status 437
Table B.4.9: ANCOVA General Summary Table 439
Table B.4.10: ANCOVA Summary Table—Posttest Stress by Marital Status by Pretest
Stress 439
Table B.5.1: Observed Frequency for Education by Marital Status 446
Table B.5.2: Statistics for the Sample and Groups 447
Table B.5.3: Calculating the Expected Frequency for Education by Marital Status 449
Table B.6.1: Calculations of Predicted Scores 456
Appendix C
Table C.1: Z Scores Critical Values 461
Table C.2: Pearson’s Correlation Critical Values 470
Table C.3: Spearman’s Correlation Critical Values 471
Table C.4: T Distribution Critical Values 472
Table C.5: Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test Critical Values 473
Table C.6: F Distribution Critical Values 474
Table C.7: Mann-Whitney U Test Critical Values 476
Table C.8: Tukey HSD Q Test Critical Values 477
Table C.9: Chi-Square Critical Values 478
List of SPSS Screen Captures
Chapter 2
Screen 2.1: SPSS Version 26.0 Main Toolbar and Dialog Boxes 29
Screen 2.2: New IBM SPSS Statistics Data Editor 29
Screen 2.3: Existing IBM SPSS Statistics Data File 30
Screen 2.4: Open Existing IBM SPSS Statistics Data File 30
Screen 2.5: SPSS Analyze Menu 31
Screen 2.6: SPSS Syntax File 32
Screen 2.7: Start IBM SPSS in Windows 10.0 36
Screen 2.8: SPSS Data Editor Main Dialog Box 37
Screen 2.9: SPSS Variable View Dialog Box 38
Screen 2.10: SPSS Value Labels Dialog Box 39
Screen 2.11: SPSS Missing Values Dialog Box 40
Screen 2.12: SPSS Value Labels Dialog Box 41
Screen 2.13: SPSS Variable View File 42
Screen 2.14: Display Data File Information Menu 43
Screen 2.15: SPSS Working File Codebook 44
Screen 2.16: SPSS Data View Screen 44
Screen 2.17: SPSS Data View File 45
Screen 2.18: SPSS Analyze—Frequencies Toolbar 46
Screen 2.19: SPSS Frequencies Dialog Box 47
Screen 2.20: SPSS “Find and Replace” Dialog Box 49
Screen 2.21: SPSS Transform-Recode Dialog Box 52
Screen 2.22: SPSS Recode into Same Variable Dialog Box 53
Screen 2.23: SPSS Recode into Same Variable Dialog Box 54
Screen 2.24: SPSS Syntax for Recode into Same Variable 54
Screen 2.25: SPSS Compute Variable Dialog Box 55
Screen 2.26: SPSS Data View File 56
Screen 2.27: SPSS Analyze-Scale Reliability Dialog Box 57
Screen 2.28: SPSS Reliability Analysis Dialog Box 58
Screen 2.29: SPSS Reliability Analysis Statistics Dialog Box 59
Screen 2.30: SPSS Reliability Analysis and Statistics for Promotion 62
xxvii
xxviii L ist o f S P S S S creen C aptures
Chapter 3
Screen 3.1: SPSS Analyze—Frequencies Toolbar 74
Screen 3.2: Transform-Recode into Different Variables Dialog Box 78
Screen 3.3: Recode into Different Variables Old and New Values Dialog Box 79
Screen 3.4: Class-Intervals Value Labels Dialog Box 80
Screen 3.5: SPSS Data File with Class-Interval Variable 81
Screen 3.6: SPSS Graphs—Legacy Dialogs Main Toolbar 83
Screen 3.7: Bar Charts Dialog Box 84
Screen 3.8: Bar Charts Define and Title Dialog Boxes 85
Screen 3.9: SPSS Chart Editor 86
Screen 3.10: SPSS Histogram Dialog Box 88
Screen 3.11: SPSS Chart Editor Dialog Box 89
Screen 3.12: Frequency Polygon in SPSS Chart Editor 91
Screen 3.13: SPSS Chart Builder—Frequency Polygon Dialog Box 92
Screen 3.14: SPSS Graphs—Legacy Dialogs—Line Dialog Box 94
Screen 3.15: Line Chart Dialog Box 95
Screen 3.16: SPSS Analyze—Descriptive Statistics Main Toolbar 98
Screen 3.17: SPSS Explore Dialog Box 99
Chapter 4
Screen 4.1: SPSS Frequencies—Statistics Dialog Boxes Toolbar 119
Screen 4.2: SPSS Frequencies—Chart Dialog Box 119
Screen 4.3: SPSS Compute Variable Dialog Box 122
Screen 4.4: SPSS Graphs—Boxplot Dialog Box 127
Screen 4.5: SPSS Graphs—Boxplot for Separate Groups Dialog Box 129
Chapter 5
Screen 5.1: SPSS Explore Dialog Boxes 144
Screen 5.2: SPSS Chart Editor—Add Normal Curve Dialog Box 145
Screen 5.3: SPSS Compute Variable—Reversed Score Dialog Box 152
Screen 5.4: SPSS Analyze . . . Descriptive Statistics . . . Descriptives Dialog Box 164
Chapter 6
Screen 6.1: SPSS Explore: Statistics Dialog Box 182
Chapter 7
Screen 7.1: SPSS Correlation Main Menu 208
Screen 7.2: SPSS Bivariate Correlations Dialog Box 209
Screen 7.3: SPSS Graphs Scatter/Dot Dialog Box 214
Screen 7.4: SPSS Chart Editor—Fit Line Dialog Box 215
Screen 7.5: SPSS Partial Correlation Dialog Box 226
L ist o f S P S S S creen C aptures xxix
Chapter 8
Screen 8.1: SPSS Compare Means Main Menu 243
Screen 8.2: SPSS Nonparametric Tests Main Menu 245
Screen 8.3: SPSS One-Sample Nonparametric Tests Main Dialog Box 246
Screen 8.4: SPSS One-Sample Nonparametric Tests—Fields—Main Dialog Box 247
Screen 8.5: SPSS One-Sample Nonparametric Tests—Settings—Main Dialog Box 248
Screen 8.6: SPSS Independent t-Test Dialog Box 254
Screen 8.7: SPSS Nonparametric Tests Dialog Box 257
Screen 8.8: SPSS Mann-Whitney U Test Dialog Box 258
Chapter 9
Screen 9.1: SPSS Split File Main Toolbar 271
Screen 9.2: SPSS Paired-Sample T-Test Main Menu 277
Screen 9.3: SPSS Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test Dialog Box 280
Chapter 10
Screen 10.1: SPSS One-Way ANOVA Main Dialog Box 305
Screen 10.2: SPSS One-Way ANOVA—Post Hoc Tests Main Dialog Box 305
Screen 10.3: SPSS One-Way ANOVA—Options Main Dialog Box 306
Screen 10.4: SPSS Nonparametric Tests—Two or More Independent Samples Main
Menu 311
Screen 10.5: SPSS Nonparametric Tests—Settings—Main Dialog Box 312
Screen 10.6: SPSS Univariate General Linear Model Main Menu 320
Screen 10.7: SPSS Univariate Custom Model Main Dialog Box 321
Screen 10.8: SPSS Univariate—Options Dialog Box 322
Screen 10.9: SPSS Univariate—Estimated Marginal Means Dialog Box 323
Screen 10.10: SPSS Univariate—Plots Dialog Box 323
Chapter 11
Screen 11.1: SPSS Chi-Square Goodness-of-Fit Dialog Box 344
Screen 11.2: SPSS Crosstabs Chi-Square Test of Association Main Menu 348
Screen 11.3: SPSS Crosstabs Statistics Dialog Box 349
Screen 11.4: SPSS Crosstabs Cell Display Dialog Box 350
Chapter 12
Screen 12.1: SPSS Linear Regression Main Menu 375
Screen 12.2: SPSS Linear Regression Dialog Box 376
Screen 12.3: SPSS Linear Regression: Statistics Dialog Box 376
Screen 12.4: SPSS Linear Regression: Plots Dialog Box 377
Screen 12.5: SPSS Linear Regression: Save Dialog Box 378
Screen 12.6: SPSS Data File with New Added Variables 381
• CHAPTER 1 •
Learning Objectives
In this chapter I introduce and define basic mathematical and research methodological terms
used throughout this book. These include the following:
1. Basic mathematical concepts
2. Variables and constants
3. Quantitative and qualitative variables
4. Types of variables
5. Levels of measurement
6. Hypotheses
7. Psychometric properties
8. Descriptive and inferential statistics
9. Relationships between variables
Introduction
Perhaps you already have learned about the research process and research design in introductory
research courses. You may know about selecting and defining researchable social/health science–
related concepts (e.g., self-esteem, self-perception, self-worth, stress, anxiety, depression), levels
of measurement, research questions and hypotheses, probability and nonprobability sam-
pling methods, psychometric properties (reliability and validity), and data collection methods.
However, you probably have not covered in depth and detail how to prepare and code data for
entry in a statistical computer program (e.g., SAS, SPSS, STATA); enter, clean, and analyze the
data; and interpret and write the results. Data analysis methods, interpretations, and discussion
of the results are the next and crucial steps in the research process.
1
2 1 . Ov e rvi e w o f M ath e mati c al a n d R e s e arc h M e thodolo g i c al T e rms
Using Statistical Methods in Social Science Research is all about data analysis methods. It
includes a step-by-step discussion of data analysis, starting with preparation of data for entry
in one of the most utilized statistical programs, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
(SPSS), and ending with selection of the appropriate statistical techniques to analyze the data
and discuss and present the results. However, because data analysis is a continuation of the
research process that usually is covered in a different course, basic mathematical concepts and
research methodological terms will be reviewed, especially those that are significant to data
analysis: variables and constants, quantitative and qualitative variables, types of variables and
levels of measurement, research hypotheses, population and sample, reliability and validity, de-
scriptive and inferential statistics, and relationships between variables. I recommend referring
to other research methods textbooks for more in-depth discussion of these and other research
terms.1
Summation Notation
Summation refers to “the sum of ” and is symbolized by the Greek capital letter sigma (Σ). It is
perhaps one of the most used symbols in statistics and mathematics. It is used to represent the
total scores/numbers in a specific set of scores/numbers. This is accomplished simply by adding
all scores/numbers in the specific set.
To illustrate the utilization of summation and other mathematical rules discussed here, let
us consider the data in table 1.1. These data represent scores of two subtests in statistics, oral
(X) and written (Y) tests, for eight graduate students. The scores are on a 10-point scale.
1 5 6
2 8 7
3 9 8
4 10 10
5 10 8
6 7 9
7 6 5
8 8 9
1
See Engle & Schutt (2017), Rubin & Babbie (2017), and Weinbach & Grinnell (2015).
Basic Mathematical Concepts 3
Suppose you want to know the sum of X1, X2, . . ., X10. You can write this as Σ(X1 to X10).
In the same notion, you can write the sum of Y1 to Y10 as Σ(Y1 to Y10).
As a general rule, the summation operation is written as the following:
N
Xi = X1 + X2 + . . . + X1
i=1
That is, the sum of Xi, in which X goes from “i” to “N.” The “X” represents the numbers for
the summation, the “i” represents the first X in the summation, and the “N” represents the last
X in the summation.
Example: The sum of X1 to X4 in table 1 can be written as
4
X i = 5 + 8 + 9 +10 = 32
i=1
That is, the sum of Xi, in which X goes from 1 to 4, is 32. You may also write the sum of X3
to X6 as
6
X i = 9 + 10 + 10 + 7 = 36
i=3
N
N
N
Xi + Yi = (X i + Y 1 )
i=1 i=1 i=1
Example: The sum of X1 to X4 and the sum of Y1 to Y4 is the same as the sum of (X + Y)1
to (X + Y)4. That is,
4
4
Xi + Y i = (5 + 8 + 9 + 10) + (6 + 7 + 8 + 10) = 32 + 31 = 63
i=1 i=1
4 1 . Ov e rvi e w o f M ath e mati c al a n d R e s e arc h M e thodolo g i c al T e rms
N
(X i + Y 1 ) = (5 + 6) + (8 + 7) + (9 + 8) + (10 + 10)
i=1
= 11 + 15 + 17 + 20 = 63
Second rule: The difference between the sum of X values and the sum of Y values is the
same as if you subtract each Y value from each corresponding X value and then sum all these
differences together. That is,
N
N
N
Xi − Yi = (X i − Y i )
i=1 i=1 i=1
Example: The difference between the sum of X5 to X8 and the sum of Y5 to Y8 is the same
as the sum of (X-Y)5 to (X-Y)8. That is,
8
8
Xi − Y i = (5 + 8 + 9 + 10) − (6 + 7 + 8 + 10) = 32 − 31 = 1
i=5 i=5
8
(X i − Y i ) = (5 − 6) + (8 − 7) + (9 − 8) + (10 − 10) = (−1) + 1 + 1 + 0 = 1
i=5
Third rule: Multiplying each number (Xi) by a constant (C) in a summation is the same
as multiplying the sum of the numbers by the constant. That is,
N
N
CXi = C Xi
i=1 i=1
4
3(X i ) = (3 × 5) + (3 × 8) + (3 × 9) + (3 × 10) = 15 + 24 + 27 + 30 = 96
i=1
4
3 X i = 3 (5 + 8 + 9 + 10) = 3 × 32 = 96
i=5
Basic Mathematical Concepts 5
Fourth rule: The sum of X values multiplied by the sum of Y values is not the same as the
sum of each X value multiplied by its corresponding Y value. That is,
N
N
N
Xi ∗ Y i = (X i ∗ Y i )
i=1 i=1 i=1
Example: The sum of X1 to X4 multiplied by the sum of Y1 to Y4 is not the same as the sum
of (X * Y)1 to (X * Y)4. That is,
4
4
Xi ∗ Y i = (5 + 8 + 9 + 10) ∗ (6 + 7 + 8 + 10) = 32 ∗ 31 = 992
i=1 i=1
4
(X i ∗ Y i ) = (5 ∗ 6) + (8 ∗ 7) + (9 ∗ 8) + (10 ∗ 10)
i=1
= 30 + 56 + 72 + 100 = 258 = 992
Fifth rule: The sum of the square of each X value is not the same as the square of the sum
of X values. That is,
N
N
2
X i2 = Xi
i=1 i=1
Example: The sum of the square of X2 to X4 is not to the same as the square of the sum of
X2 to X4.
4
82 + 92 + 102 = 245
i=2
4
2
8 + 9 + 10 = 272 = 729 = 245
i=2
When more than one operation is involved, you should follow these steps:
1. Perform the operations inside the parentheses.
2. Perform the operations for the exponents.
3. Perform the operations for multiplications and divisions.
4. Perform the operations for additions and subtractions.
Example: Solve the following equation:
√ 2
25 + (7 + 8) − 3 ∗ (2 + 6) ÷ 22
2
X =
√ 2
25 + (15) − 3 ∗ 8 ÷ 22
2
X =
X = 5 + 225 − 3 ∗ 8 ÷ 4
X = 5 + 225 − 24 ÷ 4 = 5 + 225 − 6
X = 230 − 6 = 224
So, what is a variable? A variable is anything that can vary among subjects, events, or
objects. In other words, it is a character/score that can change from one subject to another.
For example, a person can be male or female; thus, gender is a variable. Also, a person can
be classified as White/Caucasian, Black/African American, American Indian/Native American,
Hispanic/Latino, or other; that is, race is a variable. In addition, an individual can be 18 years
old, 45 years old, 80 years old, and so on; that is, age is a variable. Moreover, a student may
receive a grade of 90, 85, 78, or 60 on their final exam; that is, grade is a variable. Lastly, an
individual can be very satisfied with life, somewhat satisfied, somewhat not satisfied, or not at
all satisfied; thus, satisfaction with life is a variable.
These examples reveal that variables may differ in their quantity or quality values.
Therefore, variables can be classified in two groups, quantitative and qualitative.
Quantitative variables. These are variables that are measured using numerical values and,
thus, have numerical meanings/interpretations. They are also known as continuous variables or
continuous data. In our previous examples, age and grade are examples of quantitative variables/
data. Other examples include annual income, years of education, number of hours of exercise,
weight, and height.
Qualitative variables. These are variables that are classified into groups or categories.
They are also known as categorical variables or discrete variables. In our previous examples,
gender and race are examples of qualitative variables/data. Other examples include religious
affiliation, eye color, and political party.
While in statistics these categories are assigned numerical values (e.g., 1 = male, 2 =
female, 3 = transgender, and 4 = other), these values have no numerical meanings. In a sense,
you can label these genders as 0, 1, 2, and 3 or switch their order without losing their meaning/
interpretation.
Types of Variables
As I stated earlier, one of the main purposes of conducting research is to examine relationships
between variables of interest. When conducting quantitative research studies, researchers are
usually interested in the relationships between two types, independent and dependent variables,
and whether these relationships can be impacted by other variables, known as extraneous and
control variables.
Independent variable. It is a variable that researchers can control for or manipulate ac-
cording to the purpose of their study. It is a variable believed to cause an outcome to occur. It
is also known as factor or predictor, depending on the type of statistical analysis. For example,
if you believe that higher levels of education lead to better quality of life, then levels of educa-
tion will be the independent variable. If you believe that better physical health leads to lower
levels of depression, then physical health will be the independent variable. Also, if you believe
that there are differences between males and females with regard to their annual income, then
gender will be the independent variable.
Dependent variable. It is a measure of the effect of the independent variable. It is de-
pendent upon the occurrence of the independent variable. In other words, it is the outcome of
the independent variable. Quality of life is the dependent variable in the first example above,
levels of depression is the dependent variable in the second example, and annual income is the
dependent variable in the third example.
8 1 . Ov e rvi e w o f M ath e mati c al a n d R e s e arc h M e thodolo g i c al T e rms
2
See Bloom et al. (2009) and Rubin & Babbie (2017).
Levels of Measurement 9
between the control and the dependent variables, then researchers may treat it as a second in-
dependent variable.
Constants
Unlike variables, constants are anything that do not vary among subjects, events, or objects
under study. A constant is a characteristic that all participants under investigation have in
common. For example, if all people were Christian, then religion would be treated as a con-
stant. But since there are several religious groups, such as Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists,
and others, religion is not a constant but a variable. The speed of light, on the other hand, is
a constant; it remains steady. In geometry, π (Greek small letter pi) is a constant because it is
a fixed value: 3.14. For example, to find out the area of a circle, first square the radius (which
is a variable) and then multiply it by π (area = r2 × π). In multiple regression analysis (see
chapter 12), the “a” in a regression equation is a constant.
Levels of Measurement
Variables are classified under four levels of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
Table 1.2 summarizes the levels of measurement and their characteristics.
Nominal
Nominal variables are variables with attributes that are mutually exclusive and exhaustive.
Mutually exclusive means that you must classify every participant by one and only one of the
variable’s attributes (or categories/groups). In other words, an individual cannot be classified
by more than one attribute: a person can be male or female, but not more than one attribute;
someone can be Christian or Muslim but not both. To be exhaustive, every participant in the
study must be classifiable according to one of the variable’s attributes (categories or groups).
For example, a person can be a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or Other. If “Other” is not
one of the attributes of religion, then you may not represent participants who are Buddhist
or those who have no religious affiliation. Thus, nominal variables are those variables whose
attributes can be classified in qualitative categories, or discrete groups, and have no mathemat-
ical interpretation.
Examples: gender (attributes: male, female); religion (attributes: Christian, Jewish,
Muslim, Buddhist, no preference, other); hair color (attributes: black, brown, red, other); and
country of birth (attributes: United States, France, China, Lebanon, other).
Nominal X
Ordinal X X
Interval X X X
Ratio X X X X
10 1 . Ov e rvi e w o f M ath e mati c al a n d R e s e arc h M e thodolo g i c al T e rms
Ordinal
Variables measured at the ordinal level are those variables whose attributes have the charac-
teristics of nominal variables (mutually exclusive and exhaustive) and can be rank-ordered.
Rank-ordered means that one attribute is greater or less than another attribute. However, it is
impractical to precisely state how much greater or how much less one attribute is from another.
In other words, the distance between the variable’s attributes is not equally spaced.
Examples: Five-point Likert scale (attributes: 1 = very dissatisfied, 2 = dissatisfied, 3 = nei-
ther satisfied nor dissatisfied, 4 = satisfied, 5 = very satisfied); grading system (attributes: A, B,
C, D, F); people standing in a line (attributes: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.); dress size (attributes: S, M,
L, XL, XXL). Notice that the attributes for each variable are rank-ordered, but it is impossible
to claim that the distances between them are equal (the distance between grade A and B is not
necessarily equal to the distance between B and C or between C and D, etc.).
Interval
Variables measured at the interval level are those variables whose attributes have the charac-
teristics of ordinal variables (mutually exclusive, exhaustive, and rank-ordered) plus have an
equal distance between these attributes. In other words, the distance between the first and
second attributes is the same as the distance between the second and third, third and fourth,
and so on.
Examples: Fahrenheit temperature (attributes: 80°, 70°, 60°, etc.); percentile rank
(attributes: 50th, 40th, 30th, 10th, etc.); IQ score (attributes: 110, 100, 90, 80, etc.). Unlike
the examples of the ordinal variables, the distance between the attributes for these examples are
equal (the distance between an IQ of 70 and 80 is the same as the distance between an IQ of
80 and 90, 90 and 100, etc.).
Ratio
Variables measured at the ratio level are those variables whose attributes have the characteris-
tics of interval variables (mutually exclusive, exhaustive, rank-ordered, and equal distance) plus
have an absolute zero; a true zero. In other words, a zero point indicates that there is nothing
left on the variable to measure. For example, if someone has zero income, this means there is no
income. If someone has a zero on a statistics test, this means they did not answer any questions
correctly. In contrast, if someone has zero IQ, this does not mean they have no intelligence;
everyone has some degree of intelligence.
Examples: Age3 (attributes: 10, 15, 25, 36, 45 years old, etc.); weight (attributes: 50 pounds,
60, 80, 95, 120, 150, etc.); salary (attributes: $20,000, $25,000, $30,000, $45,000, etc.); years
of education (attributes: 6, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16, 20, etc.). Notice that these examples, and all
variables measured at the ratio level, take true numerical values.
Note: When possible, collecting data using interval or ratio levels of measurement is
recommended because it is possible to recode interval or ratio variables into ordinal
or nominal variables. However, it is difficult to recode nominal or ordinal variables
into interval or ratio variables. In other words, it is possible to recode a higher level of
3
If age is classified as young, middle, and old, then it will be treated as an ordinal level of measurement.
Levels of Measurement 11
measurement (e.g., ratio) to a lower level (e.g., nominal), but the opposite is not always
an easy task. Variables with higher levels of measurement provide more information
about the concepts under study compared to variables with lower levels of measurement
(e.g., actual income vs. low, middle, or high income).
Example: If you are interested in participants’ ages, you may ask them to report
their actual age at their last birthday. In this case, age is defined as a ratio level of meas-
urement, which is appropriate for all parametric statistics (see chapter 6). You can also
recode age into young, middle, or old, which becomes an ordinal level of measurement.
Or you could recode it into two groups: younger than 30 years and 30 years or older. In
this case,
age is treated as a nominal level of measurement.
Why and how to determine the level of measurement of a variable. Levels of meas-
urement play a fundamental role in choosing the appropriate statistical test. While I have
discussed four levels of measurement, both interval and ratio levels of measurement are treated
the same way in data analysis. Therefore, in this book I refer to the two levels as interval or
higher. As discussed in chapter 6, one assumption for utilizing any parametric test (such as the
Pearson’s correlation or the independent t-test) is that the dependent variable should be meas-
ured at the interval level or higher. Parametric tests also make assumptions about independent
variables. For example, while the Pearson’s correlation and the dependent t-test require that
the independent variable be measured at the interval level of measurement or higher, the inde-
pendent t-test and one-way analysis of variance require independent variables to be measured
at the nominal level.
Determining the level of measurement of a variable is not as straightforward as it may
seem. In general, a variable that consists only of mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories
or discrete groups is measured at the nominal level of measurement. Examples include gender
(male or female); race (White, African American, Hispanic, Native American, other); religion
(Christianity, Islam, Judaism, other); and political party (Democrat, Republican, Independent,
other).
A variable measured by a single item on a three-, four-, five-, or seven-point Likert scale
is usually considered an ordinal variable. For example, “Overall, how satisfied are you with the
services you receive? 1 = not at all satisfied, 2 = not satisfied, 3 = satisfied, 4 = very satisfied”;
“Compared to this time last year, how would you rate your overall health now? 1 = much worse,
2 = worse, 3 = same, 4 = better, 5 = much better”; “Letter grading system: 1 = A, 2 = B, 3 = C,
4 = D, 5 = F.”
A variable measured by a scale (multiple items) and a total score is computed to generate
an overall scale score, or a variable that requires a true numerical value usually measured at the
interval level or higher (ratio). For example, the total scores of the Center for Epidemiological
Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale4 and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale5 are considered interval
variables. Actual income, actual age, number of years of education, number of children at
home, and weight are all measured at the interval level or higher (ratio).
4
See Radloff (1977).
5
See Royse (1999).
12 1 . Ov e rvi e w o f M ath e mati c al a n d R e s e arc h M e thodolo g i c al T e rms
Research Hypotheses
As I mentioned earlier, researchers utilize statistics/data analysis to examine their hypotheses.
So, what is a hypothesis?
A hypothesis is an assumption/statement about the relationship between two or more
variables under investigation. It provides the general framework for the investigation and
describes the researcher’s belief about the nature of the relationships between the variables under
study. There are two types of hypotheses: the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis.
Ho1: There is no statistically significant relationship between number of hours of exercise per
week and body mass index (BMI) among college students.
Ho2: There is no statistically significant difference between male and female college students with
regard to their self-esteem.
Number of hours of exercise and gender are the independent variables in the first and
second hypotheses, respectively, and BMI and self-esteem are the dependent variable in the
first and second hypotheses, respectively.
Ha1: There is a statistically significant relationship between number of hours of exercise per week
and body mass index (BMI) among college students.
Ha2: There is a statistically significant difference between male and female college students with
regard to their self-esteem.
Note: While researchers are usually interested to find a statistical support for their alter-
native hypothesis, inferential statistics (discussed later) are always used to examine the
null hypotheses.
Psychometric Properties of an Instrument 13
Measurement Errors
Before I discuss both reliability and validity, it is important that I introduce two measurement
errors that may impact on both reliability and validity and, in turn, the results of the study.
These are random errors and systematic errors.
Random errors. These are unpredictable errors that may affect respondents’ scores be-
cause of random events happening during completion of the test. If the test is repeated, these
errors may not affect the respondents’ scores, but other random errors may occur. Examples of
random errors include fatigue, illness, unexpected death in the family, guessing, interruptions
during the test, instruction errors, and instabilities in the respondents’ state of mind.
Systematic errors. These are predictable errors that may affect respondents’ scores because
of some specific personal characteristics or the administration of the measurement tool that
has nothing to do with the construct under study. Systematic errors occur when the data col-
lected reflect a false picture of the construct, either because of the way researchers collect the
data or the dynamics of respondents.6 For example, a question that begins with “Don’t you
think that . . .” may lead respondents to the desired answer. As another example, respondents
with limited English vocabulary may hear the word “cop” when the researcher says “cup.”
These errors may continue to arise unless researchers change the measurement tool or the
respondents.
6
See Engle & Shutt (2017) and Rubin & Babbie (2017).
7
For more on reliability and scale development, see DeVellis (2012).
14 1 . Ov e rvi e w o f M ath e mati c al a n d R e s e arc h M e thodolo g i c al T e rms
to another, as a general guideline, a reliability coefficient greater than .80 is considered excel-
lent, .70 to .80 is considered very good, .60 to .69 is considered acceptable, and a reliability
coefficient less than .60 is considered weak due to the high proportion of random errors. The
relationship between reliability and random errors can be expressed in the following equation:
Types of reliability. There are four types of reliability coefficients. These include inter-
observer/inter-rater reliability coefficient, test–retest reliability coefficient, equivalence relia-
bility coefficient, and internal consistency reliability coefficient.
1. Inter-observer/inter-rater reliability coefficient refers to whether two or more observers or raters are
consistent in their rating/judgment of certain behaviors of subjects. For example, a teacher and
a school social worker may be asked to observe and rate a school-age child on a certain behavior.
The greater the number of agreements between the two (teacher and social worker), the higher
the reliability coefficient. If, for example, they agree on all statements related to the behavior
under observation, then reliability coefficient will be 1.00, or excellent. If they agree only on
40%, for example, of the statements, then reliability coefficient will be .40.
2. Test–retest reliability coefficient, also known as a stability coefficient, refers to whether a
measure/test yields similar results every time it is repeated with similar objects or subjects
under similar conditions. In this case, researchers administer the same measure/test to the
same/similar subjects in two separate occasions. The higher the relationship between the
scores of the two occasions, the higher the reliability coefficient. For example, if the Beck
Depression Inventory (BDI)8 was administered to a group of refugees 2 weeks before they
started a group therapy for reducing their depressive symptoms and then 1 week before
they started the therapy, then the relationship between the results of these two occasions is
a measure of the test–retest reliability coefficient. In this case, the greater the relationship
between the two scores, the higher the reliability coefficient.
3. Equivalence reliability coefficient, also known as the parallel-forms or alternate forms reli-
ability coefficient, refers to whether one test (form 1) produces similar results as another,
well-known test (form 2) measuring the same concept. For example, you may administer a
newly developed test of depression (form 1) to a sample of 100 battered women. At the same
time, you may administer a well-known standardized scale such as the CES-D (form 2) to
the same sample. In this case, the higher the relationship between the two tests (form 1 and
form 2), the higher the reliability coefficient of form 1.
4. Internal consistency reliability coefficient is perhaps the most reported type of reliability. It
assesses the extent to which measuring items are homogeneous. The assumption is that if
items measure the same concept, then the correlations among items, also known as inter-
item correlation coefficients, should be high.
Unlike previous reliability coefficients, internal consistency reliability coefficients can be
assessed simply by administering the measuring test on only one occasion without the need
for multiple raters/observers or forms. Then, researchers may utilize one of the following three
methods to compute the reliability coefficient:
8
See Beck et. al. (1961).
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
jälkeen. Tähän ehdottomasti parantavaan reseptiin kuuluu: joka
päivä rämpiä syvissä kinoksissa, märät saappaat, joskus jäätyneet,
jalassa, Öin ja päivin. Toisinaan tilaisuuden sattuessa maataan myös
kuusi, seitsemän tuntia lumessa, joka lämpimän ruumiin alla vedeksi
sulaa. Kilometrittäinen juoksu kuulasateessa on kipeille jäsenille
parhainta sairasvoimistelua ja peninkulmien marssit edistävät
suuresti yleistä hyvinvointia. — Tässä Heinosellekin paras ja halvin
hoitotapa. Kaupanpäällisiksi voi Mannerheim vielä antaa rintaasi
punakeltaisen nauhan. Niin voi käydä. —
*****
Ukko vei hevosensa talliin ja kävi itse tupaan. Alina otti häneltä
lyhdyn, ja lähestyi kinoksessa makaavaa ruumista. Vedossa
vapajavan kynttilän liekki loi vaisun, väräjävän valon kuolleen
kasvoille, joita nuori sisar hartain tuntein katseli.
Ken oletkin ja mitkä lienevätkin olleet ne vaikuttimet, jotka sinut
taisteluun toivat, — kunnioitan kumminkin kuolemaasi. — Ei
vihamielisyyttä enää, olkoon sielullesi rauha — puheli hän vainajalle.
Kun hän tuli tupaan, olivat muut jo levolle asettuneet. Hän etsi
itselleen makuupaikkaa ja löysi tupakamarista vanhan keinutuolin,
johon heittäytyi yötään viettämään.
*****