Generalizing from Survey Findings

Discussion Instructions

Student provides a complete response to each of the sections required in the thread. The student demonstrates critical thinking and presents his or her ideas in an excellent and thorough way. You are required to create a thread in response to the provided prompt for the forum. The thread must be at least 400 words. All assertions in your thread must be supported by Reading & Study materials, good examples, thoughtful analysis, and additional research needed to substantively address the assigned topic. There must also be an appropriate incorporation of Judeo-Christian worldview/analysis and biblical principles. All sources must be cited in current Turabian format.

Topic: Generalizing from Survey Findings

Application of Course Concepts

Using your O’Sullivan et al. text, answer the following exercises from Chapter 9:

1. Exercise 9.2 Section A: Getting Started

EXERCISE 9.2 Attitudes toward Corporal Punishment: Are Men and Women Different?

Scenario

A child care organization commissioned a random survey to identify attitudes toward child-raising. A topic of interest was the difference between the beliefs of men and women regarding discipline. The follow table reports data on men’s and women’s attitudes toward spanking.

Attitudes toward Spanking by Respondent Gender

Chi-square = 13.1, degrees of freedom = 3, significance = 0.004.

Section A: Getting Started

1. State the alternative hypothesis and the null hypothesis that could be tested with the data in this table.
2. Identify the independent and the dependent variables.
3. Calculate percentages and include in them in a table. Write a sentence to describe the relationship shown in the table. Do the data in the table support or contradict your hypothesis? Explain.
4. Based on the chi-square evidence what would you do, that is, would you reject the null hypothesis?

2. Exercise 9.2 Section B: Small Group Exercise

Section B: Small Group Exercise

1. What are the implications of the findings presented in exercise 9.2? Do you consider the table an interesting observation, a question for further study, or something else?
2. A finding of statistical significance can be persuasive. What other evidence should the child care organization present so that parents and other stakeholders are able to evaluate the findings?

3. Exercise 9.4 Section A: Getting Started

EXERCISE 9.4 How Groups Work Together

The following table was created as part of a study of collaborations formed around women’s issues and environmental issues. Members answered a series of questions to see if the coalitions were different. Each question was answered along a scale ranging from 1 = Not at all true to 7 = To a great extent true.

Section A: Getting Started

1. In plain English explain what information the table contains.
2. In plain English interpret the statistical information for the last line (“My organization can count on each partner to meet its obligations.)
3. How do collaborations focused on women’s issues differ from collaborations focused on environmental issues? What criteria did you use to make your choices?

Reading & Study

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Textbook Readings

Naked Statistics by Charles Wheelan: Chapter 13

Practical Research Methods Nonprofit and Public Administrators: Edition 1

By Rassel O’Sullivan and Taliaferro Devance: Chapter 11, 12, 13