Part 1: Specify Which Questionnaire You Selected Identify Th
Part 1specify Which Questionnaire You Selectedidentify The Level Of M
Specify which questionnaire you selected. Identify the level of measurement for questions 1-10. The available questionnaires are the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and the Sexual Attitudes and Experiences Survey. All variables in these questionnaires are exhaustive and mutually exclusive, so these attributes should not influence the determination of the level of measurement. The four main levels of measurement are:
- Nominal: Categories or attributes cannot be ranked; they are simply different categories.
- Ordinal: Categories or attributes can be ranked or ordered, but the intervals between categories are not necessarily equal.
- Interval: Categories can be ranked with equal intervals between them; however, there is no true zero point—zero does not signify “none.”
- Ratio: Categories can be ranked, with equal intervals, and a true zero point exists, meaning zero indicates “none.”
To determine the level of measurement, follow this decision tree:
- Ask: Can I rank the categories? If "No," the variable is Nominal. If "Yes," proceed to the next step.
- Ask: Is every category equal in range? If "No," the variable is Ordinal. If "Yes," proceed to the next step.
- Ask: Does zero mean “none”? If "No," the variable is Interval. If "Yes," proceed to the next step.
- Ask: Is there a true zero, with equal intervals? If "Yes," the variable is Ratio.
Part 2
In groups of up to three, complete the following items:
- Write one ratio level question.
- Identify the question the researcher(s) asked to obtain the data (i.e., what was the actual question asked to respondents).
- Write one question that the researchers asked in order to collect the data represented in the dataset.
- Identify one conclusion you can draw from the data, specifying the independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV).
Ensure your answers are clear, specific, and relevant to the data collection methods used in the selected questionnaire.
Paper For Above instruction
The selected questionnaire for this analysis is the Sexual Attitudes and Experiences Survey, which aims to gather information about individuals' sexual behaviors, attitudes, and experiences. Determining the level of measurement for questions 1-10 within this survey involves applying the decision tree reasoning to classify the variables accurately.
Firstly, many questions in this survey are designed to identify categorical data that cannot be ranked, thus falling under the nominal level. For instance, questions about "gender" or "sexual orientation" are nominal because their categories are mutually exclusive and cannot be ordered in a meaningful way. This reflects the first criterion: categories cannot be ranked, and the variable is nominal. For example, a survey question might ask, "What is your gender?" with response options: male, female, non-binary, prefer not to say. These options are mutually exclusive; no ranking exists among them.
Secondly, some questions could be considered ordinal if they require respondents to rank their experiences or attitudes, such as level of comfort or frequency of a particular behavior. For instance, a question like "How often have you engaged in sexual activity in the past month?" with options: never, rarely, sometimes, often, very often, is ordinal because responses can be ranked. However, the intervals between responses are not necessarily equal, satisfying the ordinal criteria. The survey may also ask, "Rate your comfort level with discussing sex," with options: very uncomfortable, uncomfortable, neutral, comfortable, very comfortable. These are ordinal because they can be ordered but do not have equal distances between categories.
Thirdly, questions at the interval level would allow for both ranking and equal intervals, but such questions are rare in this type of survey because they require a meaningful zero point. An example might be asking respondents to rate age in years, assuming age is measured on an interval scale, but often age is treated as ratio since zero signifies no age. Since this survey is more focused on attitudes and behaviors rather than precise measurements with equal intervals, interval data are less common here.
Finally, the ratio level may apply to questions measuring quantities with a true zero. For example, "How many sexual partners have you had in the past year?" with responses: 0, 1, 2, 3..., is a ratio variable because zero indicates “none,” and the data have equal intervals. Ramifications of such data are crucial because they allow for a wide range of statistical analyses, including calculating averages and ratios.
Part 2
One ratio level question I would include is: "How many sexual partners have you had in the past year?" The question directly quantifies behavior, and zero indicates no partners. This allows for meaningful ratios and comparisons.
The researcher might have asked: "In the past year, how many sexual partners have you had?" This question is intended to collect quantitative data on sexual activity frequency.
Another potential question the researchers asked is: "On a scale from 1 to 5, how comfortable are you discussing your sexual experiences?" This ordinal question aims to assess comfort levels regarding sexual communication.
From the data, a conclusion could be drawn that higher comfort levels correlating with a higher number of sexual partners might suggest increased openness influences sexual behavior. The independent variable (IV) in this case could be "comfort discussing sex," and the dependent variable (DV) might be "number of sexual partners." The analysis would explore whether greater comfort (IV) is associated with a higher number of sexual partners (DV).
References
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