SAMPLE
The data in this study was collected from a team to look into a new treatment strategy
that is calculated to decrease major trauma symptoms in the subjects. There were 50 subjects, or
clients, that took part in the study. After the clients arrived at the treatment center an assessment
was done on each individual to gather information such as age, ethnicity, gender, and number of
traumas experienced. Before being admitted into a cottage for the youths, a pretest was
completed. This Trauma Symptoms Scale pretest consisted of 15 self-reported answers to
Table 1
Gender
Fre
quency
V
alid
M
ale
F
emale
T
otal
P
ercent
25
25
50
Valid
Percent
5
0.0
5
0.0
1
00.0
Cumula
tive Percent
50.0
50.0
50.0
100.0
100.0
Ethnic
Fre
quency
V
alid
Caucasia
ercent
20
n
African
15
American
Hispanic
13
Other
Total
Valid
50
Percent
4
0.0
3
0.0
2
6.0
4.
0
1
Cumula
tive Percent
40.0
40.0
30.0
70.0
26.0
96.0
4.0
100.0
100.0
00.0
Age
Fre
quency
V
alid
7
.00
8
.00
9
.00
1
0.00
1
1.00
1
2.00
1
3.00
1
4.00
1
5.00
P
ercent
11
3
2
Valid
Percent
4.
0
6.
0
1
6.0
2
2.0
1
8.0
1
0.0
1
4.0
6.
0
4.
0
Cumula
tive Percent
4.0
4.0
6.0
10.0
16.0
26.0
22.0
48.0
18.0
66.0
10.0
76.0
14.0
90.0
6.0
96.0
4.0
100.0
50
1
00.0
100.0
The treatment groups were divided evenly (25 participants in the routine treatment and 25
participants in the new treatment). This study cannot be representative of the general youth
population due to the presumed mental health issues of this particular population and the
participants age. Not enough of a sample was obtained to presume generalizability of this study.
The following are three questions that were raised and analyzed to determine how
treatments helped to decrease trauma symptoms in youth. Data was collected and analyzed to
make the determinations. The following is the findings to the questions. The tests were all
conducted at an alpha level of 0.05.
Bivariate Analysis
Chi Square
Research Question: Is there a correlation between the cottage assignments and earned off
campus privileges?
Null hypothesis: There is no correlation between cottage assignments and earned off campus
privileges.
Alternative hypothesis: There is a correlation between the cottage assignments and earned off
campus privileges.
Independent Variable: Cottage assignment
Dependent Variable: Earned Off-Campus Privileges
relationship existed between cottage assignment and off campus privileges earned. A total
number of 50 patients were used in the test, 25 who earned off-campus privileges and 25 who did
not earn off-campus privileges. The results of the cross tabulation with chi square show 64%
earned off-campus privileges, or 16 out of the 25 youth who received new treatment, while 36%
earned off-campus privileges or 9 out of the 25 youth who participated in the routine treatment.
The cross tabulation with chi-square is the appropriate statistic for determining if this difference
in the results is due to sampling error, and shows whether and how the variables are related to the
other. Table 2 below shows the Pearson chi-square value at 3.920, indicating that the new and
routine treatment group are significantly different on whether they earned off-campus privileges
or not, and the difference is not contributed to sampling error.
Table 2
Missing
Total
P
N
Cottage * Earned
Off Campus Privileges
ercent
P
N
00.0%
ercent
ercent
0.
0%
00.0%
Chi-Square Tests
V
alue
Pearson Chi-
df
3.
920a
Square
Continuity
Correction
Asymp.
2.
880
Sig. (2-sided)
.048
.090
Exact
Exact
Sig. (2-sided)
Sig. (1-sided)
3.
973
.046
.089
Linear-by-Linear
3.
Association
842
N of Valid Cases
.044
.050
5
0
a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 12.50.
b. Computed only for a 2x2 table
Routin
Treatment
Earned off campus
privileges
Count
es
Expected
Count
% within
Treatment
N
Count
o
Expected
Count
% within
Treatment
Total
Count
Expected
Count
% within
Treatment
Pearsons r
e Treatment
T
otal
16
12.5
12.5
64.0%
36.0%
16
12.5
12.5
36.0%
64.0%
25
25
25.0
25.0
100.0%
100.0%
2
5
2
5.0
5
0.0%
2
5
2
5.0
5
0.0%
5
0
5
0.0
1
00.0%
Null hypothesis: Age does not affect the number of cancelled therapy sessions.
Alternative hypothesis: There is a relationship between age and number of cancelled therapy
sessions.
Independent variable: Age of person
Dependent variable: Number of cancelled sessions
The parametric formula, Pearsons r, was used to analyze whether the independent, interval level
variable (age of the person) had an effect on the dependent ratio level variable (number of
cancelled therapy sessions). The correlation coefficient calculated was -0.164 (see table 3),
which indicates an inverse relationship between age and number of cancelled sessions. This
means that older clients were less likely to cancel sessions, while younger clients were more
likely to cancel sessions. Because the value of Pearsons r is much closer to 0 than to 1, the
correlation is fairly weak.
The formula for Pearsons r assumes linear, homoscedastic data that has a fair amount of
variability for each of the two variables. A scatterplot depicting the data was generated (see table
4), in order to determine whether the data meets these assumptions. By looking at this graph, it
can be verified that the data has a sufficient amount of variability for each variable, and is
homoscedastic, with a similar amount of variance for each variable. The data also appears to be
reasonably linear on the scatterplot, therefore we can conclude that the parametric correlation,
Pearsons r, is appropriate for analyzing this data and will produce reliable results. A weak
negative correlation is visually apparent in the scatterplot, consistent with the correlation
coefficient.
Table 3
Pearsons r Correlations
Age
Age
-.164
.254
50
50
Cancelled Therapy Session
Table 4
-.164
.254
50
1
50
T-test
The Analysis of Variance of the T-test reflected these indications:
Research Question: Is there a relationship between new or routine treatments and the number of
serious behavioral issues?
Null hypothesis: There is no relationship between new or routine treatments and the number of
serious behavioral issues.
Alternative hypothesis: There is a relationship between new or routine treatments and the
number of serious behavioral issues.
Independent variable: New or routine treatment
Dependent variable: Number of serious behavioral issues
10
variable (new or routine treatments) had an effect on the ratio level, dependent variable (serious
behavioral issues). In the study the serious behavioral issues mean was 1.5000 and the new or
routine treatments was 5.5000. Moreover, this exhibits the p value in p=.525 (t=-5.095, df=49)
which is greater than p=0.05 which shows the difference in the means of treatments verses the
means of serious behavioral issues statistically have significance. The results displayed of
independent t-test in Levenes tests equality of variance results and equality of means (table 6).
The significance of the results of Levenes test displays a level of .525 which expressed a higher
p value than 0.05 rejection level. The t-Test of equality (table 7) of means can be analyze in
using this research question which shows a two-tailed p-value of .000 distinguished by equal
variance. The determining factor of the null hypotheses can be rejected because it has a lower pvalue of .000 than the rejected level of 0.05. Researchers can consider that there is no
relationship between new or routine treatments and the number of serious behavioral issues. The
variances cannot be assumed.
Table 5: Group Statistics
Group
Mean
Error Mean
Students treatments
50
1.5000
.50508
.07143
SBI
50
5.5000
5.48188
.77526
11
Students
Significance
-.092
.525
-5.095
df
49
26.00
Significance (2 tailed)
.000
.000
Mean Difference
-4.00000
-4.00000
Results
Results were as follows: For test 1 (chi square), the alternative hypothesis is true. There
was a significant difference between cottage assignment and earned off campus privileges. For
test 2 (Pearsons r) the alternative hypothesis is true with the finding of the younger clients more
apt to cancel a therapy session. Finally, the last test (t-test) found the alternative hypothesis to
hold true with there being a relationship with the type of treatment and serious behavioral issues.
There are many real world applications to this kind of research. Further studies with the new
type of treatment would warrant more research due to the positive response of the clients. The
more relationships that are examined, the more calculated the treatment for the client. For
example, examining the correlation between age and behavioral outbursts or if there is a
relationship between cottage assignment and behavioral incidents.
12
References
Rubin, A. (2013). Statistics for evidence-based practice and evaluation (3rd ed.). Belmont, Calif.:
Brooks/Cole.