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PG 8014

Advanced Quantitative Research Methods

ASSIGNMENT 2

Question 1

a)  Explain what a correlational study is. [3 Marks]

b)  Find a dataset online. Develop a correlational research topic based on the available variables in the dataset found. [You are required to use the same dataset for questions (i) to (iv)]

i.      Briefly  explain  your  topic.  State  explicitly  the  two  variables  of interest  in  this correlational topic. [4 Marks]

ii.      Illustrate a conceptual framework for your topic. [3 Marks]

iii.      Explain  the  difference  between  continuous  and  discrete  variables.  Based  on  the variables list, identify ONE continuous and ONE discrete variable. [4 Marks]

iv.      Using SPSS, perform appropriate analysis to investigate the correlation between the two variables you have identified in part (i). Copy and paste the SPSS output table and interpret your results. [6 Marks]


Question 2

a)   Identify ONE main construct in your field of interest.

i.      List down the five possible sub-constructs. [5 Marks]

ii.      For one of the sub-constructs, write down 5 items that can measure the specified sub- construct with a suggestion on the range of responses for the participants to indicate their level of agreement.

(Example: Main construct Critical thinking skill.

Sub-constructs - Reasoning, analysing, evaluating, decision making, problem-solving) [5 Marks]

b) In a Reliability investigation, one researcher obtained values for alpha as 0.78, and 0.89.  Are these good values? Justify your answer. [5 Marks]

c) How do you ensure the validity of an instrument? [5 Marks]


Question 3

a)  Using the exams.sav given, identify the missing values, unusual data, and outliers on the interval/ratio scale variables.

Variable Name

Missing data

Unusual data

Outlier

 

Case 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 [5 Marks]

b)  Clean the data to make it ready and suitable for proper analysis and show the cleaned data by highlighting the changes you have made. [5 Marks]

c)  Using the cleaned exams.sav data le, generate appropriate descriptive statistics to answer the following questions. [include the SPSS output table]

i.      What percentage of the students have completed the test preparation course? [3 Marks]

ii.      Provide  the  frequency  distribution  table  for  the  variable  race/ethnicity.  Which race/ethnicity is the majority? [3 Marks]

iii.      What is the kurtosis ratio for writing scores? Is the distribution approximately normal? [4 Marks]

Question 4

Alice is investigating if the items that  she wrote to measure the constructs, personality  and pedagogy of a teacher are reflecting the constructs sufficiently. Using PEDA SKILLS. sav data, do a factor analysis to discover the items that support and those that do not, for each of the construct.  [Show them in the output of SPSS.] [20 Marks]

Question 5

a)  Using total exams.sav data, identify: [Include the SPSS output]

i.      if females are better than males in maths achievement. [5 Marks]

ii.      whether there is a significant difference in maths achievement among groups based on the parent’s level of education. Indicate which group is better. [5 Marks]

b)  Measurement,  causality,  and  generalization  are  three  major  concerns  often  noted  by researchers in quantitative studies. Explain each of them with reference to a context (or an example). [10 Marks]