Statistics for Social Science

[Audio] Statistics for Social Science Cierra Griffin Senior Seminar of Psychology (PSYC 498) Judith l. bragger, ph.d April 23, 2023.

[Audio] Introduction: Write an introduction to your research study in 1-2 paragraphs. Be sure to include a brief statement of current research on your topic (with an in-text citation of a source), a description of your research topic, why you chose the topic, what you hoped to learn from the topic, your research question, and your broad hypothesis. The topic I chose to explore is how should the government improve the standard of living. The article I chose to read came from the International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation. This article went over the standard of living and systems needed in place to see change. There were studies on how one gets into poverty, influences, environmental factors, and how to decrease the chances of becoming poverty stricken. Experts investigated the state an individual lived in, recurring patterns, and how to better the lives of the population. Plans have been put into place to improve the standard of living. Legislative plans can be corrected or proposed with scientific research. It will aid in the improvement of the standard of living. With strategic methods, the appropriate can be helped while social programs can be created. (Muminov, Nozim & Kim, Tatyana & Egamberdiyev, Farmonqul & Ambartsumyan, Anastas. (2020)) I chose this topic because standard of living is the basis for quality of life. Everyone should have the same opportunity to obtain adequate salary/ income, employment, housing, growth in the economy, stable living, safety, and housing. Those are basic needs and necessities. I hoped to learn what steps are put into place to combat poverty and improve the standard of living in the United States. My research question is "Where would you place yourself on the scale of living?" My broad research hypothesis is "The government plays a significant role in the standard of living.".

[Audio] Literature Review: Write a 3-5 paragraph lit review (review of studies on your topic) using more than three sources, at least two of them being research studies in peer-reviewed journal articles I chose the article "Falling living standards during the COVID-19 crisis: Quantitative evidence from nine developing Countries" The study was composed of over 30,000 respondents. There were 16 separate households. The nine countries surveyed were in Africa (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone), Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, Philippines), and Latin America (Colombia). The results of the survey concluded the way households were trying to get by and government assistance as insufficient to sustain the pre covid living standard. In turn, that led to food scarcity and an economic collapse all within 3 months of Covid. Variables: Socioeconomic status (Poverty Probability Index ) Drop in income (compare income reported during pre–COVID-19 baseline surveys to income reported during the post–COVID-19 telephone interview to determine whether there has been a drop in income.).

[Audio] Literature Review Continued Drop in employment (a drop defined as a respondent who reported working during the pre–COVID-19 reference period but not working at the time of the post–COVID-19 interview ) Reduced access to groceries (they or any household member faced difficulties in purchasing food because of mobility restrictions, closed markets, or food shortages. Measures of food insecurity that we label "missed or reduced meals) Government support received (have received food, cash, or other support from government programs or NGOs over the past month) Consumption, any income within 2 weeks (Current profits and revenues of enterprises are asked for the past 14 days; pre–COVID-19 profits and revenues are asked retrospectively for a "typical 2-week period") Consumer prices (based on the value of total household food consumption over the past 7 days and nonfood expenditure over the past 14 days. Consumption expenditure in SLE1 is based on household expenditure on five main staple food items over the past 7 days. To construct the pre–COVID-19 benchmark, the same expenditure question is asked retrospectively for a period about the same time, but a year prior.) Research method: Quantitative (This study has numerical representation of empirical facts) Researchers conducted phone interviews to get information. Hypothesis: Poorer countries were going to suffer more as a result of covid-19. They would continue to lack adequate support from the government. Overall resources and opportunities will be scarce..

[Audio] Methods/Dataset: In one paragraph, describe the GSS dataset The GSS (General Social Survey) dataset collects historical information in the United States. It is based on societal changes and the society of America. The GSS dataset I chose was how the government can improve the standard of living. My survey question was "where would you place yourself on the scale of living?" The variables were the government (Independent variable) and standard of living (Dependent variable). They type of data is numeric. The measurement is ordinal. The measurement of association is gamma..

[Audio] Methods/Variables: In one paragraph, discuss why you chose the specific independent and dependent variables for your analyses. Include the names of the variables, the level of measurement, the questions asked in the survey, and the response choices for each I chose my independent variable because I knew it would affect my dependent variable. Independent variables are affected by outside factors. The dependent variable can change throughout the experiment based on the independent variable. The independent variable is the government. The government cannot be changed. The dependent variable is standard of living. The dependent variable can be changed either by improving or getting worse based on what the government does/ does not do. The data set is numeric. It's a quantitative data set. The measurement is ordinal. (categories) The measure of association is gamma. The data showed the relationship between the two variables. (DV, IV) The questions asked in the survey were "Will the standard of living improve? Should the government approve the standard of living?" The response choices were "strongly agree, agree, neither disagree nor strongly disagree"..

[Audio] Methods/Variable information: Copy and paste your frequency tables and descriptive statistics for each variable. Include your charts as well (histogram, bar, or pie). Provide a summary/explanation of what these tables/charts tell us about your variables: The research hypothesis is improved standard of living. The null hypothesis is the government. The alpha is .05. The P= <.001. The null is rejected, p is less than the alpha. That means the government will help improve the standard of living. The independent variable affects the dependent variable.

[Audio] Methods/Variable information: Copy and paste your frequency tables and descriptive statistics for each variable. Include your charts as well (histogram, bar, or pie). Provide a summary/explanation of what these tables/charts tell us about your variables:.

[Audio] Findings: Copy & Paste corrected analyses from Weeks 3-6, i.e., Crosstabs, Measures of Association, Tests of Significance. Include the five steps of hypothesis testing. State your research hypothesis (H1) and null hypothesis (H0). H1= Improved standard of living H0= Government Identify your significance level (alpha) at .05 or .01, based on the mock study. You only need to use ONE level of significance (either .05 or .01) as specified in the instructions. Alpha .05 Conduct your analysis using SPSS. Look for the valid score for comparison. This score is usually under 'Sig 2-tail' or 'Sig. 2' or 'Asymptotic Sig.' We will call this "p." P= <.001 Compare the two and apply the following rule: If "p" is < or = alpha, then you reject the null. NULL rejected; p is less than the alpha. Please explain what this decision means in regard to this mock study. (Ex: Will the government improve the standard of living?) The government's help will improve the standard of living. My IV affects my DV..

[Audio] Findings: Copy & Paste corrected analyses from Weeks 3-6, i.e., Crosstabs, Measures of Association, Tests of Significance. Include the five steps of hypothesis testing. The research hypothesis is improved standard of living. The null hypothesis is the government. The alpha is .05. The P= <.001. The null is rejected, p is less than the alpha. That means the government will help improve the standard of living. The independent variable affects the dependent variable..

[Audio] Findings: Explain what the analyses displayed above tell us about the relationships between the variables in the study. The analyses displayed above tell us the dependent variable changes throughout the experiment based on the independent variable. The dependent variable can be changed either by improving or getting worse based on what the government does/ does not do. The government's help will improve the standard of living. My IV affects my DV..

[Audio] Conclusions: Explain how the findings contribute to the study of your topic. What did you learn? What other variables need to be explored? What further research on your topic could be pursued in the future? The findings contributed to the study of my topic greatly. The government had a significant effect on the standard of living. The more help, the better the living. The less government assistance, the worst the living. I learned that there are still people that do not believe in the government wanting to improve the standard of living. Other variable that need to be explored is demographics, city, state and types of government programs offered. Further research on my topic that need to be pursued in the future were studies on how one gets into poverty, influences, environmental factors, and how to decrease the chances of becoming poverty stricken..

References. Falling living standards during the COVID-19 crisis ... - science. Science Advances. (2021, February 5). Retrieved from https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe0997 Muminov , Nozim & Kim, Tatyana & Egamberdiyev , Farmonqul & Ambartsumyan , Anastas . (2020). ТHE WAYS OF IMPROVEMENT OF LIVING STANDARDS. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation. 24. 1965-1980. 10.37200/IJPR/V24I4/PR201305. Smith, Tom W., Davern , Michael, Freese, Jeremy, and Morgan, Stephen, General Social Surveys, 1972-2018 [machine-readable data file] /Principal Investigator, Smith, Tom W.; Co-Principal Investigators, Michael Davern , Jeremy Freese, and Stephen Morgan; Sponsored by National Science Foundation. --NORC ed.-- Chicago: NORC, 2018: NORC at the University of Chicago [producer and distributor]. Data accessed from the GSS Data Explorer website at gssdataexplorer.norc.org..