Analyzing Descriptive Statistics
As a practicing scholar, you are searching for evidence to translate into practice. In your review of the evidence, you locate a quantitative descriptive research study as possible evidence to support a practice change. You notice the sample of this study includes 200 participants and is not normally distributed. Reflect upon this scenario to address the following.
What statistical procedure is needed to determine an effective sample size to make a reasonable conclusion? Explain your rationale.
The most appropriate statistical procedure for determining if the sample size is effective is the T-test. It compares the mean of two groups to determine the difference and inform if the control group’s population is effective to test the hypothesis. It determines whether the experiment affects the target population (Mishra et al., 2019). A t-test is valid as long as the sample size is enough to determine the test statistic.
Reading through the study, you observe that the researcher used chi-square analysis to analyze nominal and ordinal data. Is this the appropriate level of statistical analysis to answer the research question? Explain your rationale.
The use of chi-square is appropriate when analyzing categorical data, and when the test statistic is chi-squared distributed under the null hypothesis. It can easily determine the research’s reliability by giving the same answer when the rows and columns of the chi-square are rearranged.
Reading further, the researcher reports that the p-level led her to conclude that the null hypothesis was rejected. In your critique of the study, you determine that the null hypothesis is true. Do these findings impact your decision about whether to use this evidence to inform practice change? Why or why not?
Since the researcher concluded that the null hypothesis is not true, yet the findings reveal that it is true, it shows that the research has credibility issues. These findings will impact my decision on whether to use this evidence or not. Good research should be valid and reliable, making it easy to transfer the evidence in the practical world. Research with such errors may not be reliable and therefore influences implementation.
Is especially important for us, to learn the correct use of the different research tools. Research plays a critical role in problem-solving because it generates useful knowledge and information that can be used to address societal problems. People research to generate new knowledge related o particular societal problems (Weith et al., 2019).
References
Mishra, P., Pandey, C. M., Singh, U., Gupta, A., Sahu, C., & Keshri, A. (2019). Descriptive statistics and normality tests for statistical data. Annals of cardiac anesthesia, 22(1), 67.
Weith, T., Rogga, S., Zscheischler, J., & Gaasch, N. (2019). Beyond projects: Benefits of research accompanying research: Reflections from the research program Sustainable Land Management. GAIA-Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 28(3), 294-304.
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