Data Analysis Exercises

Data analysis exercise

For this assignment, we will use the Pew data sets that we have worked with in the lab. You can use any of the data sets, including more than one. I want you to formulate four research questions (or hypotheses) based on the data file and survey items and to use SPSS to answer those questions. You'll need to ask and answer questions that make use of the following four statistical methods:

One question for which Crosstabs and Chi Square analysis are appropriate
One question for which correlation analysis is appropriate
One question for which a t-test is appropriate
One question for which ANOVA is appropriate

For each of the four research questions, your report should include:

The question (or hypothesis). It should be one sentence long, or possibly two at most.
The questionnaire items and how they are scaled or measured. Without the scaling, I can't interpret your interpretation.
The statistical results (table or tables) from the SPSS analysis.
Your interpretation of the statistical result -- what it means.

For example: Are men or women more likely to watch or listen to news podcasts?

Q 80: Do you watch or listen to NEWS podcasts on your iPOD or digital music player, or not?
   1. Yes
   2. No
Sex
    1=Male
    2=Female

Interpretation: Both variables are at the nominal level, so a cross tabs analysis and Chi Square are appropriate. Phi or Cramer's V is also reported. (I'm making the rest up--I did not do this analysis). The Chi Square value of 1.8 is reported as significant at p=.12. The result is greater than the .05 level, which means that there is no difference between men and women on the use of podcasts for news.

(if there is a difference) Both variables are at the nominal level, so a cross tabs analysis and Chi Square are appropriate. Phi or Cramer's V is also reported. The Chi Square value of 4.2 is reported as significant at p <.01. The table frequencies show that more women use podcasts than men. The result is lower than the .05 level, which means that there is a significant difference between men and women on the use of podcasts for news. The Phi value of .23 shows that there is a weak relationship.

As an alternative, you could have phrased this question in the form of a hypothesis: Men are more likely to watch or listen to news podcasts.
Your interpretation would be somewhat different.
NOTE: You can copy the chart or table from the SPSS output into Word. Highlight it on the SPSS output and "copy special." You might need to adjust the chart if it is a t-test or ANOVA.
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