In: Statistics and Probability
TYPED ANSWER ONLY
A school psychologist wants to determine whether children who live with both parents perform better on school work than children who live with a single parent. She gathers two groups for her comparison, 20 children who live with both parents and another 20 who live with a single parent. The psychologist plans to use scores on a standardized achievement test as an indicator of school performance. Respond to the prompts below. (1 point each)
(1)
Question:
What statistical test would be appropriate in this case? Explain the rationale for your answer.
Two independent samples t test
Explanation:
In this experimentation,the two samples: Sample 1: 20 children who
live with both parents and Sample 2: 20 children who live with a
single parent. are independent. Sample Sizes: n1 = 20 < 30 and
n2 = 20 < 30 Small Samples. Population Standard
Deviation is not provided. So, t distribution is appropriate
instead of Z score.
(2)
Question:
Identify the independent variable in this study.
Living with both parents or living with a single parent.
(3)
Question:
Identify the dependent variable in this study.
Performance on school work
(4)
Question:
Describe a potentially confounding variable and explain how that might affect the conclusions from the study.
Natural intelligence of a child which will affect the performance of the school work irrespective of whether the child is with both parents or a singleparent is a potentially confounding variable.
(5)
Question:
State the null and alternative hypotheses in words.
H0:Null Hypothesis: (The children who live with both parents do not perform better on school work than children who live with a single parent )
HA: Alternative Hypothesis: (The children who live with both parents perform better on school work than children who live with a single parent ) (Claim)