Locating an Empirical Research Article

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Empirical research articles document a study that is either quantitative, qualitative or a mixed methods research design. When authors write an empirical research article they typically follow a format that looks like this: Introduction/Background, Literature Review, Methodology, Findings, and Discussion. The authors recount literature on their specific research topic and describe in a systematic manner how the data was collected and then analyzed in order to answer the research question(s). Once the data is analyzed, they present the findings. Finally, they interpret the findings using past literature to help understand the findings.

What we broadly describe as a “quantitative study” includes numerical summaries that involve descriptive statistics (averages, standard deviations), correlations, and inferential statistics (such as T-tests, Chi Squares and other kinds of analyses). These kinds of studies can include certain elements such as per- and post-tests or survey results looking at correlations between variables.

Qualitative articles, on the other hand, use interviews, focus groups, observations, and written answers to questions. Rather than using statistics to summarize the study, these studies look at themes and present the material using words, phrases and often paragraphs to illustrate what they are representing.

To prepare for this assignment, review Week 1’s readings and resources on how to locate an empirical research article using the library’s databases.

For this Assignment,

  • Locate an empirical research article that is either a quantitative or qualitative study from a peer reviewed social work journal for the final assignment.
    • Do not select an empirical research article that describes a mixed methods study. The reason is because a mixed method study involves both a quantitative and qualitative component. You would have to do two reviews – one for the quantitative component and one for the qualitative component — for the final assignment.
  • Upload the article. Your instructor will review the article to make sure it is an empirical research article and will approve it for your use for the final assignment.

Hypothesis testing

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Hypothesis testing is used in business to test assumptions and theories. These assumptions are tested against evidence provided by actual, observed data. A statistical hypothesis is a statement about the value of a population parameter that we are interested in. Hypothesis testing is a process followed to arrive at a decision between 2 competing, mutually exclusive, collective exhaustive statements about the parameter’s value.

Consider the following scenario: An industrial seller of grass seeds packages its product in 50-pound bags. A customer has recently filed a complained alleging that the bags are underfilled. A production manager randomly samples a batch and measures the following weights:

Weight, (lbs)

45.6     49.5

47.7     46.7

47.6     48.8

50.5     48.6

50.2     51.5

46.9     50.2

47.8     49.9

49.3     49.8

53.1     49.3

49.5     50.1

To determine whether the bags are indeed being underfilled by the machinery, the manager must conduct a test of mean with a significance level α = 0.05.

In a minimum of 175 words, respond to the following:

  • State      appropriate null (Ho) and alternative (H1) hypotheses.
  • What      is the critical value if we work with a significant level α = 0.05?
  • What      is the decision rule?
  • Calculate      the test statistic.
  • Are      the bags indeed being underfilled?
  • Should      machinery be recalibrated?

Assessment 1 Instructions: Basics of Research and Statistics, Frequency Distributions, Percentiles, and Graphical Representations

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Assessment 1 – Basics of Research and Statistics, Frequency Distributions, Percentiles, and Graphical Representations

Complete the following problems within this Word document. Do not submit other files. Show your work for problem sets that require calculations. Ensure that your answer to each problem is clearly visible. You may want to highlight your answer or use a different type color to set it apart.

Problem Set 1.1: Identifying Variables (Dependent, Independent, Quasi-Independent)

Criterion: Identify dependent and independent variables.

Instructions: For the following list of examples, identify the dependent variable and independent (or quasi-independent) variable. 

1. A researcher tests whether cocaine use increases impulsive behavior in a sample of cocaine-dependent and cocaine-inexperienced mice. 

Independent Variable: ________ 

Quasi-Independent Variable: ________

Dependent Variable: ________

2. A professor tests whether students perform better on a multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank test format. 

Independent Variable: ________ 

Quasi-Independent Variable: ________

Dependent Variable: ________

3. A researcher tests whether smoking by parents influences children’s attitudes toward smoking behavior. 

Independent Variable: ________ 

Quasi-Independent Variable: ________

Dependent Variable: ________

4. A social scientist tests whether attitudes toward morality differ based on political affiliation (Democrat or Republican).

Independent Variable: ________ 

Quasi-Independent Variable: ________

Dependent Variable: ________

5. A cultural researcher tests whether individuals from different cultures share or differ in the belief that dreams have meaning.

Independent Variable: ________ 

Quasi-Independent Variable: ________

Dependent Variable: ________

Problem Set 1.2: Understanding Sample and Population

Criterion: Describe the relationship between population and sample. 

Instructions: Read the following and answer the question. 

Height and educational attainment: Szklarska, Koziel, Bielicki, and Malina (2007) hypothesized that taller young men are more likely to move up the scale of educational attainment compared with shorter individuals from the same social background. They recruited 91,373 nineteen-year-old men to participate in the study. 

Do these participants most likely represent a sample or population? Explain.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Problem Set 1.3: SPSS Enter Data

Criterion: Enter and display data in SPSS.

Instructions: Use the supplied data to complete Steps 1–8.

Data: Five social media users spent the following number of minutes viewing Twitter:
 15.21, 46.18, 12.45, 65.486, 26.852.

Steps:

1. Open SPSS.

2. Click New DataSet in the New Files area and then click Open.

3. Click the Variable View tab at the bottom.

4. In the cell under Name, type Minutes.

5. The variable of Minutes is continuous. In the Decimals column, type 2.

6. Click on the Data View tab at the bottom of the screen.

7. Enter data in the column labeled Minutes.

8. Take a screenshot of your data in SPSS and paste it below.

Problem Set 1.4.a: Grouped or Ungrouped

Criterion: Explain the identification of types of data. 

Instruction: Fill in the table below. For each example, state whether it is grouped or ungrouped and why. 

    

Example

Grouped or Ungrouped

Why

 

The time (in seconds) it takes 100   children to complete a cognitive skills game.

 

The number of single mothers with 1,   2, 3, or 4 children.

 

The number of teenagers who have   experimented with smoking (yes, no).

 

The age (in years) of freshman   students in a local college.

Problem Set 1.4.b: Understanding Descriptive and Interferential Statistics

Criterion: Explain the identification of types of data. 

Instructions: Read the following and answer the question. 

Gun ownership in the United States: Data from Gallup polls over a 40-year period show how gun ownership in the United States has changed. The results are described in the table below, with the percentage of Americans who own guns given in each of 5 decades:

   

Year

%

 

1972

43

 

1982

42

 

1992

48

 

2002

40

 

2012

43

Source: Reported at http://www.gallup.com/poll/1645/Guns.aspx 

1. Are the percentages reported here an example of descriptive statistics or interferential statistics? _____________________________________________________________

2. Based on the percentages given in the table, how has gun ownership in the United States changed over the past 40 years? ______________________________________________________________________

Problem Set 1.5: Reading a Chart

Criterion: Locate data on a chart. 

Instructions: Read the following and answer the questions. 

   

Participant Characteristics

Count

 

Type

Token

 

Sex

 

Women

Men

Unknown

24,541

23,617

479

878,261

751,188

927

 

Total

1,630,376

  1. Do men or      women in this sample speak more words overall (Token Count)?      _______________
  2. Do men or      women in this sample speak more different words (Type Count)?      _______________
Problem Set 1.6: Frequencies and Percents

Criterion: Identify frequencies and percents.

Instructions: State whether a cumulative frequency, relative frequency, relative percent, cumulative relative frequency, or cumulative percent is most appropriate for describing the following situations. For cumulative distributions, indicate whether these should be summarized from the top down or from the bottom up.

Data: 

1. The frequency of businesses with at least 20 employees: ____________

2. The frequency of college students with less than a 3.0 GPA: ____________

3. The percentage of women completing 1, 2, 3, or 4 tasks simultaneously: ____________

4. The proportion of pregnancies performed in public or private hospitals: ____________

5. The percentage of alcoholics with more than 2 years of substance abuse: ____________

Problem Set 1.7: Understanding Percentages

Criterion: Identify distribution type and number of people.

Instructions: Read the following and answer the questions. 

Perceptions of same-sex marriage: In June 2016, a CBS News poll asked a sample of adults worldwide whether it should be legal or not legal for same-sex couples to marry (reported at http://www.pollingreport.com). The opinions of adults worldwide were as follows: 58%, legal; 33%, not legal; and 9%, unsure/no answer.

1. What type of distribution is this? __________________________

2. Knowing that 1,280 adults were polled nationwide, how many Americans polled felt that same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry? __________________________

Problem Set 1.8: Create an Ascending Frequency Table in SPSS

Criterion: Create an ascending frequency table in SPSS.

Instructions: Complete the following steps.

Data: The number of clicks per hour in forty different tweets: 1, 0, 8, 5, 2, 1, 8, 2, 0, 2, 6, 8, 7, 2, 0, 2, 7, 4, 6, 9, 3, 2, 9, 6, 9, 7, 5, 8, 8, 8, 9, 6, 5, 4, 8, 4, 5, 8, 5, 7

1. Open SPSS.

2. Click New Dataset in the New Files area and then click Open.

3. Click on the Variable View tab.

4. In the cell under Name, type Clicks.

5. The variable of Clicks is discrete, so enter 0 in the Decimals column.

6. Click on the Data View tab at the bottom of the screen.

7. Enter all 40 numbers from from the dataset of number of clicks per hour in the column labeled Clicks.

8. In the Toolbar, click Analyze, select Descriptive Statistics, and then select Frequencies.

9. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the right side of the table.

10. Click OK. Copy and paste the ascending values frequency table into the Word document.

11. Go back to Data View, click Analyze, select Descriptive Statistics, and then select Frequencies.

Note: Your answers to this problem set should be two separate SPSS outputs. Save your Clicks data to use in the next two problems.

Problem Set 1.9: Construct a Bar Graph in SPSS

Criterion: Construct a bar graph in SPSS.

Instructions: The Clicks data from Problem Set 1.10 is discrete. Complete the following steps to create a bar chart to examine the data:

1. Go back to your SPSS Statistics Data Editor where your Clicks data should be displayed.

2. In the Toolbar, click Graphs, select Legacy Dialogs, and then select Bar.

3. Click Simple, then select Define. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the Category Axis box.

4. Click OK. Copy and paste the bar graph below. (Hint: You might need to use Copy Special and click the .jpeg option.)

5. Optional to answer: What is the shape of the distribution?

Problem Set 1.10: Construct a Pie Chart in SPSS

Criterion: Construct a pie chart in SPSS.

Instructions: Complete the following steps to create a pie chart to examine the attendance data from Problem Set 1.10.

1. Go back to your SPSS Statistics Data Editor where your clicks data should be displayed.

2. Select Data View, click Graphs, select Legacy Dialogs, and then select Pie.

3. Click Summaries for groups of case and then select Define. Select Clicks and then click Arrow to send it over to the Define Slices By box. 

4. Click OK. Copy and paste the pie graph below.

Rhetorical Analysis Pre-Writing Instructions

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You must find it in one of the five

approved sources listed in the Week 3 discussion assignment, and it must have been published within the past two years.  

  1. Using pp. 55-70 (“Rhetorical Situations: Purpose, Audience, Genre, Stance, and Media/Design”) of your Norton Field Guide to Writing, list the five elements of the rhetorical situation of your article (purpose, audience, genre, stance, and media/design). Re-read your article and then, next to each of the five elements, write as much as you can about how each applies to your article. (This is prewriting for your proctored essay exam, so good answers here should help you tremendously when you sit down to write your outline for your proctored exam.) You may find it very helpful to review this Rhetorical Analysis Toolkit. 
  2. Identify the author’s argument by putting the thesis, or main claim of the article, into your own words. I am looking for you to identify the author’s stance on the issue s/he discusses in the article. If the author of your article appears to remain neutral on the argument s/he presents, state this fact. This part of your assignment should be a single sentence or two at the most. 
  3. Explain the author’s purpose for writing the article in your own words. Who is the target audience? 
  4. Identify the genre of your article, and discuss the media/design of the article. What is the layout of the information like? Are any pictures included with the text? Do the pictures heighten the overall effectiveness of the article? If included, explain how the included images engage a particular rhetorical appeal(s).   
  5. Analyze the way the author engages different rhetorical appeals to support his or her claims. Please break down various uses of ethos (the credibility of the writer), logos (the internal logic of the article, i.e.- facts, figures, statistics, etc.), and pathos (the writer’s use of emotion, i.e.- emotionally charged diction, tone, etc.) Again, this activity is designed to help you come up with plenty of examples and support for your proctored critique essay, so coming up with lots of examples and ideas now will allow you to narrow and refine your thoughts later. 
  • You may complete this homework assignment in list form, as an outline or a series of bullet points, or short sentences or paragraphs. The goal for this assignment is to help you understand the article, generate ideas, and prepare you to write the critique essay.

My topic is “ The News effort to clean up it’s misinformation after the election” 

THE STORY

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Alyssa works for an online company that helps thousands of small business owners across the country to advertise themselves and find customers in need of their services. After the job is completed, Alyssa’s company encourages the customers to review the business

on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. This review is saved within Alyssa’s database so that future customers

can see the average number of stars a business has received on the online service. That way the

customers can find the best rated person for the job.

Alyssa found that many business owners had questions about how they could improve their rating. One common question was: “How many 5-star reviews in a row do I need to improve my rating from where I’m at to a 4.5?” Or a 4.2? Or whatever threshold they were interested in? Rather than having to work this out from scratch in every scenario, it is more efficient to create a formula so the answer can be found quickly and efficiently.

We will start out with some simpler questions to become familiar with the situation and how averages work. By the end of this project, you will be able to efficiently answer the question above for ANY starting situation. You will use skills you learned about solving formulas for a particular variable and working with rational expressions.

Title Page, Outline, & References Page

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Develop the format and framework for your final project.

Your submission should be a single document which includes an outline summarizing the main topics and sub-topics of the final project.  Your summary should contain the following topics and sub-topics below as these will be required when organizing your final project. 

Title Page

Table of Contents

I.  Executive Summary

II.  Background

III.  Diagnosis

a.  Current Situation

b.  Supporting Data/Analysis

IV.  Recommendation Intervention

V.  Applicable Organizational Behavior Concepts

VI.  References

Do not submit your entire paper during Week 5, but rather, summarize in 1-3  paragraphs the key points you will cover in each of the above topic and sub topic sections.  (Note:  The description for each of the topics and sub-topics is found under the Week 1 Weekly Content module, under “Review This Week’s Lecture” section, titled “Final Project Preview” link.)

Your Outline Summary should have the following components:

·  Make sure your paper reflects scholarly writing.  Use APA formatted outline summary with the inclusion of a title page and a References page. 

·  Double space your lines, use 12 pt. Times New Roman font, and add the above bolded lines as “section headers”

·  Include a minimum of 5 resources (the resources found to complete Week 3’s Annotated Bibliography should be used along with other outside resources)

·  Place in-text citations to show where you plan to use resources to support your summary sections.

WEEK 2 BIOMED

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.Read and watch the lecture resources & materials below early in the week to help you respond to the discussion questions and to complete your assignment(s).

(Note: The citations below are provided for your research convenience. You should always cross reference the current APA guide for correct styling of citations and references in your academic work.)

Read

  • Ethical and Religious Directives (ERD) for Catholic Health Care Services (6th ed.). (2018). 
    Paragraphs: 40, 41, 42, 48, 52, 53 download 

Watch

After studying the course materials located on Module 3: Lecture Materials & Resources page, answer the following:

  1. Name and explain the levels of human sexual intercourse.
  2. Difference between reproduction and procreation.
  3. What are the two dimensions of intimacy?
  4. Contraception:
    • What is it?
    • What is the intention of contraception?
    • Describe the three types of artificial contraception.
    • Risks / Side effects
    • Bioethical analysis and unfair dynamics of artificial contraception.
  5. Non-Therapeutic sterilization; bioethical analysis
  6. Principle of double effect; explain
  7. Bioethical analysis of:
    • Ectopic pregnancy
    • Cancerous reproductive system with pregnancy
  8. In Vitro Fertilization(IVF):
    • Process
    • Bioethical analysis of IVF
  9. Bioethical analysis of “to have a child”
  10. Read and summarize ERD paragraphs #: 40, 41, 42, 48, 52, 53.

Submission Instructions:

  • The paper is to be clear and concise and students will lose points for improper grammar, punctuation, and misspelling.
  • If references are used, please cite properly according to the current APA style. Refer to your syllabus for further detail or contact your instructor.

Assignment No. 2 (Moral Philosophy vs. Behavioral Economics and Moral Psychology)

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Most of the ethical prescriptions of normative moral philosophy tend to fall into one of the following three categories: deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics. These categories in turn put an emphasis on different normative standards for judging what constitutes right and wrong actions.

Moral psychologists and behavioral economists such as Jonathan Haidt and Dan Ariely take a different approach: focusing not on some normative ethical framework for moral judgment, but rather on the psychological foundations of moral intuition and on the limitations that our human frailty places on real-world honesty, decency, and ethical commitments.

In this context, write a short essay (minimum 400 words) on what you see as the most important differences between the traditional normative philosophical approaches and the more recent empirical approach of moral psychology when it comes to ethics. As part of your answer also make sure that you discuss the implications of these differences.

Deadline reminder: this assignment is due on June 14th. Any assignments submitted after that date will lose 5 points (i.e., 20% of the maximum score of 25 points) for each day that they are submitted late. Accordingly, after June 14th, any submissions would be worth zero points and at that time the assignment inbox will close.

Essay week 15

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Essays (20% of final grade)

Students will be given a variety of media, including videos, articles, and essays, to review and interpret during the last third of the course. These materials will allow the students to examine the topics with the benefit of having researched on various discussion subjects and completed the assigned readings from the course text books. Upon review of the information students will then write a short essay discussing their thoughts on the material reviewed. These thoughts may include examination of the issues presented, policy creations or political responses, personal experiences, evaluation of or suggestions for future research and other materials as you may believe relevant. As always students should use APA formatting and identify resources used both in text and as a reference. It is my hope that you will demonstrate your understanding of the broad topic of (TTM) and the implications of these issues within society.

Essays will be delivered through CANVAS for my review and not available under discussion for the class other than the last essay which may be posted under discussion but will be delivered through CANVAS for grading.

Each original essay should be at least 500 words and is due as assigned on the Canvas Course Modules and Course Template.

Persuasive Essay

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  My Thesis (needs to be changed)-  Online classes are more effective than traditional classes because it provides people with full-time jobs accessible sources to help them with their work.

Write a 3-5 page essay that directly responds to one of the prompts below. All essays are expected to follow the conventions of MLA format, including using Times New Roman 12 point font, one inch margins, and citing any outside sources you might reference. You will need to cite at least one relevant peer reviewed/scholarly source and one credible website to support your argument. Please see grading information below for additional considerations when writing this essay. This is not a personal narrative, so it should not contain any first person usage (I, me, my.) Formal essays should never contain second person usage (you, your.) All late essays will lose a letter grade for every day they are late. Essays will not be accepted over three days past the due date.

 Which is one is more effective, traditional classes or online classes? Why? 

PLEASE NOTE: I am purposely using the vague term “effective” because I want you to set the parameters of what makes one choice “better.” For example, effective could mean course completion rates, grades, students’ satisfaction, etc. You will need to decide how you’ll determine effectiveness. 

Grading

-Introduction is interesting and appropriately familiarizes the reader with the topic.

-Paper contains a clear, easily discernable thesis statement.

-Body paragraphs support and further explain the thesis statement and present one supporting point per paragraph.

-The paper is written in grammatically correct Standard English.

-Student has effectively incorporated at least one relevant peer reviewed source and at least one credible website. 

-Paper adheres to MLA format, including heading, header, and works cited.

-Conclusion effectively provides a sense of completeness and closure to the paper.

-Paper shows author’s consideration of the audience and purpose through the use of appropriate tone. 

Note: Essays that do not meet the minimum length requirement of three full pages (not including the works cited page) will lose at least a letter grade.