Name Class Section Date Week 4 Descriptive Statistics Assign

Nameclasssectiondateweek 4 Descriptive Statistics Assignment 2thi

This assignment has 3 parts: Part 1, 2, and 3. Please read the directions carefully. Create a table summarizing the results, write a brief paragraph interpreting the table, generate histograms with normal curves overlaid for specific variables, analyze skewness, and interpret descriptive statistics for a revenue-related variable. Follow all specified steps using SPSS, and answer all questions based on your outputs. The assignment involves statistical analysis and reporting of demographic data, variable distributions, skewness, and confidence intervals, with attention to detail and proper APA formatting.

Paper For Above instruction

The purpose of this exercise is to analyze demographic and economic data collected from participants using descriptive statistics and visual representations. This process aims to familiarize students with data summarization, distribution analysis, and interpretation of statistical results in the context of social science research. The data analyzed includes respondents' age, education level, racial and ethnic identity, employment status, and family income, providing insights into the demographic characteristics and income variability within the sample.

Part 1: Data Summarization and Interpretation

Based on the provided SPSS output, a detailed table in APA format is constructed, displaying key descriptive statistics for the demographic variables. The sample comprises 30 participants, with demographic data including age, highest school grade completed, race/ethnicity, and employment status. The mean age of participants is approximately 36.24 years with a standard deviation of 6.20, indicating moderate variation in age across respondents. The highest school grade completed ranged from 1 to 16 years, with an average of 10.7 years (standard deviation 3.2), reflecting diverse educational backgrounds.

Race and ethnicity categories show that 46.67% identified as Black, not Hispanic, followed by 26.67% Hispanic, 20% White, not Hispanic, and 6.66% Other. Employment status indicates that 90% of participants are currently employed, with 10% unemployed. These demographic insights help in understanding the representativeness and diversity of the sample population and provide context for further analyses.

The frequency distribution for categorical variables such as race/ethnicity and employment status highlights the prominent groups in the sample, with the majority being employed and mainly identifying as Black or Hispanic. Missing data points are minimal, ensuring data integrity. This summarization provides foundational understanding necessary for interpreting the distributions and skewness of key variables in the study.

Part 2: Histograms and Skewness Analysis

Histograms created with SPSS show the distributions of respondents' age and highest school grade completed overlaid with normal curves to assess normality visually. The histogram for age demonstrates a slight negative skew, characterized by a longer tail on the lower end, suggesting more respondents are older but with a few younger outliers. In contrast, the histogram for highest school grade completed appears symmetric, indicating a relatively normal distribution.

Analyzing the skewness values and the shape of the histograms, the first histogram (respondent's age) is negatively skewed, with the tail pointing towards lower ages. The second histogram (highest school grade completed) is approximately symmetric, indicating minimal skewness. These observations suggest that while age distribution is skewed, educational attainment levels are more evenly spread across the sample.

Identified skewness informs the choice of statistical measures and the interpretation of data, as highly skewed variables may require transformation or non-parametric analysis methods.

Part 3: Descriptive Statistics and Confidence Intervals for Income Data

The descriptive statistics for the "Family Income Prior Month, all sources" variable indicate a mean income of approximately $1,172.59, with a standard deviation of $788.153. The standard error of the mean is calculated at about $26.35, which reflects the precision of the sample mean estimate. Confidence intervals offer insights into the population parameter:

  • At 95% confidence level, the interval is obtained using the formula: mean ± 1.96 × SE. The calculation yields approximately $1,119.89 to $1,225.29, capturing the true population mean with high likelihood.
  • At 99% confidence level, using the multiplier 2.58, the interval extends approximately from $1,104.62 to $1,240.56, indicating a wider range due to increased confidence.

Comparing the intervals, the 99% confidence interval is wider, reflecting increased uncertainty at higher confidence levels. This widening is a standard statistical phenomenon, emphasizing that larger confidence levels produce broader ranges, accommodating more possible true population means.

This analysis helps in understanding income variability and the level of certainty around the average family income in the broader population, guiding policy and further research initiatives.

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