Statistics for Social Workers

A stem and leaf plot is interchangeable with a pie graph.

False

If a variable is continuous, it must either be a nominal or ordinal variable.

False

Percentile ranks or percentiles indicate the percentage of cases within a group that fall below a particular score.

False

True/False: Weekly hours of working is measured by a question below. This variable is a nominal-level variable. Q. How many hours did you work last week? 1. 10-15 hour/week 2. 16-20 hours/week 3. 21-25 hours/week 4. 26-30 hours/week 5. 31-35 hours/week 6. 36-40 hours/week 7. Over 41 hours/week

False

The following is a stem and leaf plot for miles driven to work for a sample of social workers. 1 2 2 3 4 5 6 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 3 0 0 0 3 4 5 4 1 2 3 5 0 3 6 7 Answer the following questions: The sample size is 23. (True or False) Three individuals drive 30 miles to work. (True or False)

False/True

A researcher is interested in determining whether age influences the level of depression experienced by youth. In this study the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), a standardized measure was used to assess children's depression and children were asked their age.

Independent Variable : Age Dependent Variable: (CDI) Children's Depression Inventory

Q. How many times have you drank alcohol in the past month (30 days). Please fill in your answer below. _________ days. What level of measurement is the alcohol use variable?

Interval/Ratio

A researcher believes that an individual's income is the key predictor in one's overall life satisfaction. She decides to conduct a study to test the hypothesis that income predicts life satisfaction. Which of the following correctly identifies the independent and dependent variables?

Life satisfaction is the dependent variable; income is the independent variable

A researcher is interested in whether number of hours studying differs based on undergraduate students' major (e.g., social work, nursing, psychology, pre-med, engineering, etc.). What is the level of measurement for the variable major?

Nominal

An ASU student makes a New Year resolution to shed a few pounds by going to the gym and eating right. The student purchases a scale so that he can keep track of his progress. He steps on the scale and it shows "180 lbs." He steps off the scale and one minute later steps back on the scale. This time it shows "187 lbs." This scenario shows an issue with the scale's _____________________.

Reliability

If a test is valid, what does this mean?

The test measures a useful construct or variable.

A frequency distribution table can be used to answer questions about the demographics of a target population.

True

The following raw data has been placed into an array (order). 33 33 39 43 46 52 55 63 63 64 69 73 75 79 88 88

True

A frequency distribution table may be constructed for data in the following level of measurements.

All of the above

Select the appropriate graph for the variable sex.

histogram

A child welfare researcher is interested in looking at what characteristics are associated with reunification (the return of a foster child to parent(s)). One variable included in the dataset is number of days until reunification (5 indicates 5 days between removal and reunification, 24 indicates 24 days between removal and reunification, etc.). What level of measurement is this variable?

interval/ratio

A local agency is collecting demographic information from the participants of their Healthy Families program. One of the questions they asked is their children's gender. WHAT IS THE LEVEL OF MEASUREMENT FOR GENDER?

nominal