Chapter 1 Statistics and Stages of Research Process Reflection Paper 1.Reflection (I have no experiences on statistics) After reading Chapter 1 of the tex

Chapter 1 Statistics and Stages of Research Process Reflection Paper 1.Reflection (I have no experiences on statistics)

After reading Chapter 1 of the text, write a 1.5 – 2 page (double-spaced, 12 font) reflection paper that describes your thoughts about and experiences with

statistics and
the stages of the research process.

2. Assignment (You will write a paper about the use of statistics in the media, and the responsibility of the publication of statistics from research and evaluation)

Read and consider Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice, from the American Statistical Association (PDF) and Statistics and the Media as linked in the materials. (Link: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/mathematics-and-statistics/statistics/statistics-and-the-media)

Write a 2-3 page (double-spaced) paper addressing the following questions. Be sure to use information presented in the article to support your answers.

1.Why are statistics important to share with journalists and the public?

2.How does the media often use and misuse statistics?

3.Does the information in these articles influence the way you think about your work in evaluation? Explain why or why not. Running head: EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF WOMEN IN GOV. IN INDIA
Exploring the Effect of Women in Government in India
Wenye Liang
Quantitative Methods and Statistics for Evaluators
Nicole Gilbert Cote
05/23/2020
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EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF WOMEN IN GOV. IN INDIA
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Exploring the Effect of Women in Government in India
The federal constitution of India was amended in 1992 to devolve power. The local
government was brought into the forefront in determining administration at the village
levels (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, n.d). These administrative units are
governed by the village councils (gram panchayats), that prepare the budget and choose
the development programs that need to be implemented. The constitutional amendment
also provided for women engagement in leadership and policymaking. All states are
required to reserve a third of all council seats for women in a rotational allotment. Despite
this constitutional requirement, the quota system has only achieved marginal success, with
India recording 10 percent of women in government compared with the global average of
17 percent. In evaluating the matter from a research perspective, the proposed study would
be guided by the overarching question: to what extent has the constitutional women
representation quota in India affected representative policymaking in the country? By
answering this question, the research would evaluate the developmental impact of the quota
system in India’s grassroots by comparing development in areas with relatively higher
women representation in areas with little to no women representation. The research would
create valuable knowledge that determines the impact of women in leadership on grassroots
development and understands the significance of the 1992 constitution amendment of India
towards the representation of women in policymaking.
To perform this research, the researcher would require information on the number of
women in leadership across different localities in India and development statistics or
EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF WOMEN IN GOV. IN INDIA
3
reports for those areas. This report would be dependent on the availability of development
reporting in India’s grassroots as well as historical records of women representation since
the enactment of the 73rd Amendment. Depending on the availability of data, a suitable
research design would be selected. To provide a representative sample, the researcher may
consider selecting several regions that provide both rural and urban localities. Local
councils could represent several villages. Selecting a sample that represents the average
local council in India would be suitable for the research, thus keeping the size and scope
of the research manageable. At least ten villages could be selected to provide baseline
characteristics.
This research should incorporate a mixed-methods design. Mixed-methods designs
are conventionally used to evaluate complex interventions, such as gender quotas in
governments that are implemented differently across different regions (Capstick & Pidgeon,
2014). The effect of women in governance is a complex phenomenon since it is dependent
on multiple social, political, and economic factors for its implementation. The researcher
may apply a convergent approach, allowing the study to review both quantitative and
qualitative resources (Capstick & Pidgeon, 2014). In this way, the researcher could gather
data from women in government. They will be asked about the timeline for their political
careers, investments in public goods, education levels, and political experiences. The
researcher would assess public reports that measure the implementation of gender quotas.
These sources could validate each other and provide the research with a strong foundation
for reaching conclusions regarding gender policy. The researcher would collect the number
EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF WOMEN IN GOV. IN INDIA
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of female representatives (quantitative data) and descriptions and highlights of the gender
quota policy (qualitative data) for analysis, and then demonstrate the success of the gender
quota policy in village-level development.
The findings would present gender quota differences across different regions and
compare development outcomes in those regions. Items such as gender representation,
literacy levels, quality of public infrastructures such as healthcare, schools, and roads
would be considered. In effect, the outcomes of the research will evaluate whether gender
representation in grassroots leadership influences the quality of life for constituents. The
findings would then be presented using both graphical and tabular results. Graphical results
enable the audience to quickly and summarily understand the effect of women in
government, while the tabular results could present the extensive results of the proposed
study through the various data analysis methods applied. Alternatively, the proposed study
could provide an executive summary that captures its main findings.
The potential clients for this research are policymakers at the federal government
of India and the local governments (Panchayat Directorates) who may be interested in
establishing if it has achieved its goal of increasing the participation of women in politics
and understanding the effect of (greater) gender representation at the government by
assessing the current effects of this legislation. The stakeholders are political leaders,
special interest groups like women rights activists, and the public.
Finally, the research is expected to take at least two years. This time will be
sufficient to plan for the study, recruit the required teams, pilot test, collect data, and
EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF WOMEN IN GOV. IN INDIA
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analyze the findings. Most of time would be appropriate for reconnaissance studies into the
dynamics of local government leadership in India’s rural areas. The researcher need time
to familiarize themselves with the recordkeeping techniques that this leadership structures
keep, thereby determining how the mixed-methods approach will best be applied. Based
on these factors and the fact that the total budget of the research is estimated at $28,000.
The fixed costs will be $16,000 and cater for the enumeration of the research teams,
equipment, and services such as data storage and publication costs. The indirect cost will
amount to $12,000 and cater to consultation costs, office supplies, and travel expenditures.
EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF WOMEN IN GOV. IN INDIA
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References
Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. (n.d). Case study 1: Women as policy makers.
Capstick, S. B., & Pidgeon, N. F. (2014). What is climate change skepticism? Examination
of the concept using a mixed-methods study of the UK public. Global
Environmental Change, 24, 389-401.
Week 1 Materials
How to navigate materials
Each week we will cover a range of topics, readings and videos. In order to be successful,
you will need to review all of the required materials.
To access all materials you can use the “Table of Contents” area in the upper right corner
of this screen or the “Previous” and “Next” prompts in the top and bottom corners of this
section.
Readings
Reading Instructions
Before you read, know that some of the terminology might be new to you and somewhat
confusing. We will begin to discuss this terminology in future weeks, but as you read,
write down some of the technical/evaluation terms and concepts that you may not be
familiar with. Once you have read the whole case and completed your list, try to define
each term briefly based on what you already know or understand. It’s OK not to
know. It’s also OK to be ‘wrong’ as no one is going to know anyway!
What this exercise might help you to figure out is just how much (or how little) you
already know and understand about program evaluation. It will also hopefully give
you a sense of how large and complex and complicated some evaluations are (others are
not so). This is a case of a particular way of understanding and practicing evaluation and
is grounded in a particular method of evaluation roughly defined as impact evaluation.
We will cover impact evaluation, briefly, in future weeks because most impact
evaluations use quantitative methods and statistics.
Once you have read this case study, written down your list of terms and concepts, and
briefly defined them for yourself, please answer the questions listed in the
assignment. Where possible, use the information presented in the case study to support
your answers and arguments. Your answers should be succinct but detailed enough to
thoughtfully and completely answer the questions.
Assignment Preparation
Case Study 1：Women as Policymakers （See PDF）
Course Introduction
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You will also need the course text, Fundamental Statistics for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences (Tokunga, 2016). More on the text is posted below.
All other course content will be available through Moodle.
Each week will have a Moodle lecture with required links to videos and/or
external readings
After reading the weekly “lectures” (all the content in the Materials section), I
recommend you do the assigned readings
Textbook
The text for this course is Fundamental Statistics for the Social and Behavioral
Sciences by Howard T. Tokunaga, published in 2016. Copies are available through most
major online book retailers (e.g., Amazon.com). You will be expected to have a copy of
the text by the second week of the semester.
Activities
In addition to the weekly “lectures” and readings, you’ll also do an assignment, a quiz,
and participate in either a discussion forum or write a brief reflection paper.
The assignment format will vary from week to week, but each assignment will be worth
the same number of points. Assignment examples include reading a case study, critiquing
a journal article, or doing a problem set.
You will be required to take a quiz most weeks. Each quiz has 15 questions and is worth
15 points. Quizzes are open book and open notes, but they are timed and you cannot
discuss them with anyone in the class (before or after taking them).
For half of the weeks there will be a discussion question that is posted and meant to
inspire class discussion. Active participation in each forum is expected. For the other
half of the weeks you will be required to write a brief reflection paper. Prompts for these
papers will be shared with you.
Goals
You will:
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perform common quantitative methods and statistical techniques that are relevant
to conducting an evaluation,
differentiate between the concepts of evaluation and research, and
apply their learning to the development of a quantitative evaluation project.
Research and evaluation (or Program Monitoring and Evaluation, M&E) spans a wide
range of conceptualizations and definitions. Evaluators utilize a wide range of research
methods and ways of thinking about and applying research, as they design and conduct
evaluations.
Research methods can be either quantitative, qualitative, or a mix of both (i.e. mixedmethods).
Similarly, evaluation can be quantitative, qualitative, or mixed, and evaluations draw on
these very same research methods and methodologies but they are often used by
evaluators somewhat differently than researchers. More about that in future weeks!
What is important is that the methods and design that evaluators choose to use need to be
relevant and appropriate to the specific program that is being evaluated and these
methods need to be understood and used with the same level of insight, understanding,
and rigor that formal academic researchers might do when conducting their own
academic research.
These first week and week 8 are designed to help explain and clarify some of the basic
concepts and terminology associated with both quantitative research and evaluation.
A Word About Evaluation
This is not a course on evaluation, but a course on quantitative methods and statistics for
use by evaluators.
The course will provide a brief overview of evaluation and research.
However, the main focus of the course is on the quantitative methods and statistics
commonly used by evaluators.
This course has been developed with the assumption that you will take additional courses
focusing on
1. qualitative research methods
2. program evaluation design and methods.
You will need these things in order to become a competent evaluator!
The point of departure for this course is therefore a basic understanding of evaluation
(and particularly impact evaluation). You also need a basic understanding of, and skill
in, math.
A Word about Math
Calculators are encouraged. You don’t need to be the hero who does hand calculations!
If you know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, you’re in good shape.
You’ll need to know some basic Algebra. In algebra, numbers are often represented as
symbols called variables (e.g., x, n, y, or z). You will need to solve for variables like you
do in the equation below.
x + 50 = 150 (x = 100)
You’ll also need to know these…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Powers
Coefficients
Groupings
Operators
Constants
Need to brush up on your Algebra? （Link）
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Khan Academy
Cool Math
See where your basic math skills are by taking this week’s Moodle quiz. This is a graded
and required quiz.
Fundamental Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences
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To my kids, Meagan and Will, and my parents, Katsumi and Grayce Tokunaga.
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Fundamental Statistics for the Social and
Behavioral Sciences
Howard T. Tokunaga
San Jose State University
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FOR INFORMATION:
SAGE Publications, inc.
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SAGE Publications Ltd.
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Copyright © 2016 by SAGE Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
All trademarks depicted within this book, including trademarks appearing as part of a
screenshot, figure, or other image are included solely for the purpose of illustration and are
the property of their respective holders. The use of the trademarks in no way indicates any
relationship with, or endorsement by, the holders of said trademarks. SPSS is a registered
trademark of International Business Machines Incorporated.
Printed in the United States of America
Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this title from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4833-1879-0
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
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Acquisitions Editor: Vicki Knight
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Typesetter: C&M Digitals (P) Ltd.
Proofreader: Jennifer Grubba
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6
Detailed Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1. Introduction to Statistics
Chapter 2. Examining Data: Tables and Figures
Chapter 3. Measures of Central Tendency
Chapter 4. Measures of Variability
Chapter 5. Normal Distributions
Chapter 6. Probability and Introduction to Hypothesis Testing
Chapter 7. Testing One Sample Mean
Chapter 8. Estimating the Mean of a Population
Chapter 9. Testing the Difference between Two Means
Chapter 10. Errors in Hypothesis Testing, Statistical Power, and Effect Size
Chapter 11. One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
Chapter 12. Two-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
Chapter 13. Correlation and Linear Regression
Chapter 14. Chi-Square
Tables
Appendix: Review of Basic Mathematics
Glossary
References
Index
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Preface
It may surprise students to learn they have something in common with writers of books
such as this one: When you get close to finishing a writing assignment, you get a bit tired
and a bit lazy. The first attempt at this preface was written shortly after final drafts of
chapters were sent to my editor at SAGE, Vicki Knight. After reading it, she said, “It’s not
bad, but it reads like the ‘typical’ Preface. I think it would be useful for the reader to have a
sense of why you wrote this book and why you wrote it the way you did.”
In responding to my editor’s plea for self-analysis, I found that this book’s journey began in
college. When I entered college, I thought my path would take me to law school; however,
taking an Intro to Psych class my freshman year made me realize I enjoy the challenge of
trying to understand the human mind. The school I attended, UC Santa Cruz, was a fairly
unconventional university, but somehow in the midst of a sea of humanistic psychologists,
I became attracted to the empirical and methodological aspects of psychology. This was a
result of taking classes with instructors such as David Harrington and Dane Archer, who
showed me that statistics could appeal to students if taught using a gentle, guiding
approach that addresses questions relevant to students’ lives. After graduating from college,
I was able to get a job as a research assistant for a human resource consulting firm. Despite
my lack of work experience, I was hired primarily as a result of having taken statistics and
research methods courses, which taught me that learning statistics has benefits both inside
and outside of the classroom.
Several years later, I started grad school at UC Berkeley, where two events critical to this
book took place. First, serving as a teaching assistant, I found I really enjoyed helping
students, particularly in statistics and research methods classes that were often viewed with
fear and suspicion. Second, I took graduate classes from Geoff Keppel, who had developed
his own unique method and system for analyzing experimental research designs. His
lectures and books were instrumental in showing me that statistics can be taught in a
systematic way that highlights similarities rather than differences between different research
situations. Geoff managed to transform something as daunting sounding as a “3 × 2 × 4
research design” into the mathematical equivalent of playing with wooden toy alphabet
blocks labeled “A,” “B,” and “C.” For a long time, I thought my gratitude to Geoff was an
isolated occurrence. However, the appreciation others have for his approach to teaching
statistics was made apparent to me several years later when I watched him receive an
American Psychological Association (APA) Lifetime Achievement award.
After leaving Cal, I took on a teaching position at San Jose State, where my teaching
responsibilities included an introductory statistics course aimed at students with a wide
range of background, ability, and motivation. As I needed to select a textbook to use in this
course, for the first time I looked carefully at the wide range of offerings. What I found
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striking (and still find striking) was that the majority of books focused on providing
formulas and very small sets of data designed to demonstrate how to correctly calculate the
correct numbers from these formulas. Little emphasis, however, was given to what these
numbers meant or implied. Given my own experiences learning statistics, I thought a book
was needed that discusses statistics in a thematic manner, focusing on how they are used to
answer questions and test ideas within the larger research process.
The primary purpose of this book is to not just teach students how to calculate statistics but
how to interpret the results of statistical analyses in light of a study’s research hypothesis
and to communicate one’s results and interpretations to a broader audience. Hope…
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