Question

Coynes and Messina Statistical ASSESSMENT

Answer 1

The statistics that are used in a research study must match the type of information being collected in the study. When choosing the statistics, the researcher must consider the different aspects of the data that is being collected. Is the data interval or ratio, nominal-ratio, or nominal-ordinal? How big is the sample size? Is the data quantitative or qualitative? These are just a few of the questions that should be asked by the researcher before deciding on which statistics to use when evaluating the research. In this study, the statistics used are the Spearman coefficient of rank-order correlation and Mann-Whitney U-test.

Spearman coefficient of rank-order correlation:

Correlation coefficients are used to determine the strength of the relationship between two variables. The values that are found using this statistic is +1 to -1. This is to say, if the coefficient correlation is +1 then there is a positive perfect correlation between the variables. If the correlation is equal to -1, then there is a negative perfect correlation. Finally, if the correlation equals 0 there is no correlation or the correlation is weak.