EDP 667

INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIORAL STATISTICS

JOURNAL ARTICLE EVALUATION OF STATISTICS OUTLINE.

PUT THE COURSE NUMBER (EDP667), SEMESTER (FALL, 2005) AND CAMPUS (OXFORD) ON A SEPARATE COVER SHEET.  PUT YOUR NAME ON THE BOTTOM LEFT PORTION OF THIS COVER SHEET. THE FOLLOWING WOULD BE AN EXAMPLE OF A PROPER COVER SHEET:

EDP 667

FALL, 2005

OXFORD CAMPUS
 
 
 

EVALUATION I: T-TEST - EITHER INDEPENDENT SAMPLE OR REPEATED MEASURES.
OR
ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OR CORRELATION.

LAWRENCE W. SHERMAN


FOLLOWING THE COVER SHEET YOU SHOULD HAVE A "READABLE" XEROX COPY OF THE ARTICLE WHICH YOU ARE GOING TO REVIEW AND EVALUATE. MY INTENTION HERE IS TO READ THE ARTICLE FIRST, BEFORE I SEE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT. THEN I WILL SEE IF YOU AND I AGREE ON WHAT IS TO BE EVALUATED!

 FOLLOWING THE XEROX COPY OF THE ARTICLE SHOULD BE YOUR EVALUATION OF THE ARTICLE. TYPE IT UP IN APA STYLE USING DOUBLE SPACING THROUGHOUT. YOUR EVALUATION SHOULD ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING OUTLINED ISSUES:
 
 

JOURNAL ARTICLE EVALUATION OUTLINE

TITLE:

AUTHOR(S):

JOURNAL:

DATE:

VOLUME:

PAGES:
 
 

A. INTRODUCTION

1. DOES THE TITLE OF THE RESEARCH ARTICLE GIVE ANY INDICATION OF THE TYPE OF STUDY BEING REPORTED: IE., DESCRIPTIVE, CORRELATIONAL, OR CAUSAL - COMPARATIVE.

2. WERE THE INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES MENTIONED IN THE TITLE?

3. IN WHAT PART OF THE ARTICLE DID YOU FIND WHAT KIND OF STATISTICAL TOOLS WERE BEING USED?
 
 

B. ANALYZING THE VARIABLES.

1. WHAT IS (ARE) THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES(S). BE SPECIFIC!
 
 

a. WHAT IS (ARE) THE NATURE OF THE MEASUREMENTS: IE., NOMINAL, ORDINAL, RATIO, INTERVAL, AS WELL AS WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE CONTINUOUS OR DISCRETE.

 

 
 
 
 
 

2. WHAT IS (ARE) THE DEPENDENT VARIABLES(S). BE SPECIFIC!
 
 
a. WHAT IS (ARE) THE NATURE OF THE MEASUREMENTS: IE., NOMINAL, ORDINAL, RATIO, INTERVAL, AS WELL AS WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE CONTINUOUS OR DISCRETE.


C. HYPOTHESES.

1. WERE THE HYPOTHESES CLEAR AND UNDERSTANDABLE?

2. FOR EACH HYPOTHESIS ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

        a. IS IT SIMPLY AN "ALTERNATIVE" HYPOTHESIS WITH NO DIRECTIONALITY IMPLIED?
 
 

1. IF THE ANSWER IS YES TO 2A, THEN TRY TO STATE THE HYPOTHESIS IN A "DIRECTIONAL" FORM.


        b. IS IT DIRECTIONAL?
 
 

1. IF THE ANSWER IS YES TO 2B, THEN TRY TO STATE THE HYPOTHESIS IN A "NON-DIRECTIONAL" FORM.


3. IF THE AUTHORS DID NOT PROVIDE HYPOTHESES, TRY TO "CREATIVELY" GENERATE WHAT YOU THINK THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN. DO THIS IN BOTH "NON-DIRECTIONAL" AND "DIRECTIONAL" ALTERNATIVE FORMS.

4. ATTEMPT TO STATE THE NULL HYPOTHESIS FOR EACH ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS.

        a. SYMBOLICALLY REPRESENT THE NULL HYPOTHESIS.

5. DID THE AUTHORS SPECIFY A SPECIFIC ALPHA RISK LEVEL FOR REJECTING THE NULL HYPOTHESIS? IF SO, WHAT WAS IT? IF THEY DID NOT SPECIFY THE ALPHA RISK LEVEL, WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MUST HAVE BEEN?
 
 

D. SAMPLE.

1. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE SAMPLE WAS LARGE ENOUGH?
 
 

a. GIVEN THE SAMPLE SIZE COULD YOU COMPUTE THE STANDARD ERROR OF THE MEAN. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS YOU WOULD NEED THE VALUES FOR BOTH N AND THE STANDARD DEVIATION. DID THEY PROVIDE YOU WITH THIS DATA. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE THE "CRITICAL REGION" FOR REJECTION OF THE NULL HYPOTHESIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN.
E. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS.

 1. ARE APPROPRIATE STATISTICAL TOOLS USED?
 
 

a. EG., WAS THE "HOMOGENEITY OF VARIANCE" ASSUMPTION TESTED (AN F-MAX TEST). COULD YOU DO ONE?

 

 
 
 
 
 

b. EG., THE NATURE OF MEASUREMENT FOR THE INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES AND HOW MANY OF THEM MIGHT INDICATE THE TYPE OF STATISTICAL TOOL THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED?


3. WERE GRAPHIC CHARTS USED?

        a. IF SO, WERE THEY HELPFUL IN SHOWING THE RESULTS.

        b. IF GRAPHIC CHARTS WERE NOT USED, TRY TO CONSTRUCT THEM FROM THE REPORTED DATA: IE., SKETCH OUT A BAR GRAPH, HISTOGRAM, OR FREQUENCY POLYGON.

4. DOES THE INVESTIGATOR RELATE THE RESULTS TO THE HYPOTHESES?

5. DOES THE INVESTIGATOR OVER-CONCLUDE, THAT IS, ARE THE CONCLUSIONS SUPPORTED BY THE DATA.