In non-experimental research, descriptive statistics can be used in two primary ways as described in the text. Identify these two ways and recall what each is designed to describe or assess.
Question: In non-experimental research, descriptive statistics can be used in two primary ways as described in the text. Identify these two ways and recall what each is designed to describe or assess.
Sample answer: The two primary ways are: 1) computing simple percentages to describe the proportion of individuals engaging in a certain behavior or holding a specific belief, and 2) computing a correlation coefficient to assess the statistical relationship between two naturally occurring variables.
Key points:
- Computing simple percentages to describe proportions of behaviors or beliefs.
- Describing the proportion of individuals engaging in a behavior or holding a belief.
- Computing a correlation coefficient.
- Assessing the statistical relationship between two naturally occurring variables.
Rubric: Award full credit if the response correctly recalls both methods (simple percentages and correlation coefficient) and their specific purposes as described in the text (describing the proportion of behaviors/beliefs, and assessing the relationship between two naturally occurring variables, respectively).
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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