Reporting findings- SPSS database;PSM510 Assignment 2,The key elements of assessment for this module are: 1) To be able to conduct the analysis correctly, as evidenced by output in appendices – you should be able to select and use the correct analysis f
PSM510 Assignment 2
Word Limit: 1,000 (+-10%) – this does not include references, appendices, and figures/tables. This assignment makes up 50% of your total module mark, with the remaining 50% being taken from Assignment 1.
You will be evaluated using the following rubric:
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
60% EXPLANATION AND UNDERSTANDING
20% STRUCTURE / CLARITY / PRESENTATION
20%
The key elements of assessment for this module are:
1) To be able to conduct the analysis correctly, as evidenced by output in appendices
– you should be able to select and use the correct analysis for the design and data you are given
2) To be able to clearly, and accurately interpret the results
– offer a clear, and concise explanation of what the results mean – this is the most important skill to evidence here
– select which elements of the output need to be used in interpretation
– accurately report, in APA style, the findings from the analysis
Demonstrate a good understanding of the research design and how the methodology impacts the analysis strategy.
Discuss in a clear and concise way choices made in the analysis (e.g. why you have chosen the analysis)
Provide a step-by-step discussion through your analysis, detailing the decisions you have made at each stage.
Provide concise answers to questions relating to design, background, and preliminary analysis (e.g. assumptions tests or reliability checks). Well-presented and structured in a clear and coherent way.
Follows APA style for reporting of data analysis – especially correct use of Greek and Latin symbols, italics, and accurate selection of coefficients to report.
Factor Analysis
A researcher is developing a scale to measure personality. They have been developing items using the 8-steps approach and have now begun to pilot test their items. They run an exploratory factor analysis on 44 items, using data collected from over 300 participants – the data has already been checked for any missing cases and a few missing entries replaced with the mean for that item, there are no negatively worded items. The output file ‘Assignment 2 Factor Analysis’ shows the results from this analysis. You should use this to answer the questions below.
1. Based on item facility, are there any items you would flag, and why?
2. Report whether the scale is reliable with the appropriate statistic, and whether any further items should be flagged.
3. A principle components analysis was run with orthogonal rotation. Coefficients less than .3 were suppressed.
a. Using the output explain how many factors you would suggest extracting and why (what are you basing this decision on, how would you decide?)
b. Are there any cross-loading items? If so what should the researcher do with those items?
4. When you have decided how many factors you would expect to retain, explain what the researchers next steps should be.
Correlational analysis
A team of researchers is interested in understanding the relationship between personality traits, narcissism and conscientiousness, trait mindfulness, and resilience. They ran a survey measuring narcissism, conscientiousness, resilience, and mindfulness with 150 employees in a financial services institution. The dataset has been checked for missing values, and there were no influential cases identified using cooks, leverage or Mahalanobis values. The file ‘Assignment 2 Correlational output’ contains the output from some correlational analysis. Use this output to answer the questions below.
1. What is meant by influential cases and why do we need to check for them?
2. There are five key assumptions for linear regression analysis- using the output report how you would check each one, and whether it is met or violated in the dataset.
3. Report whether any of the predictors significantly predict resilience, and report the appropriate statistics.
4. The researchers were interested in whether mindfulness predicted resilience via conscientiousness.
a. What type of relationship are they investigating?
b. Report the appropriate statistics to show whether the above relationship was found to be significant. You should use tables and figures where appropriate.
c. Explain what these results mean to a non-specialist audience.
5. The researchers found a significant interaction between narcissism and conscientiousness in predicting resilience.
a. Report the appropriate statistics to show that this is the case. You should use tables and figures where appropriate.
b. Explain the interaction effect (simple slopes) in a way that a non-specialist audience could understand.
Experimental Analysis
A study investigated the effect of a brief mindfulness intervention on stress. Below is an excerpt from the procedure section of the report.
“Job candidates waiting to go into an interview reported their anxiety levels. They then completed either a 5-minute mindfulness body scan, or a 5-minute control task. Following the 5-minute task, participants again reported their anxiety levels before being called into their interview session. Interviews lasted approximately 30 minutes, and participants reported anxiety for a final time before being thanked and debriefed”
The researchers hypothesised that the candidate stress levels would increase across the time points for the control condition participants, but that this effect would be attenuated for participants in the mindfulness condition. The file ‘Assignment 2 Experimental output’ contains the output for the analysis. You should use this to answer the questions below.
1. Write the study design for this study.
2. Report the assumptions tests and whether you are making any adjustments to reporting the main analysis (e.g. why/why not).
3. Report the main effects and interaction effects stating whether the hypothesis was supported. You should use tables and figures where appropriate.
a. Explain what these results mean for a non-specialist audience
