research methods worksheet assignment
FCS 681 Research Methods
Assignment #1
- Motivation of research, dependent and independent variables, and hypotheses
- State what the motivation of the research (either description, identification of relationship/difference, or explanation [inferring cause and effect]) probably is for each research question.
- For each question that involves either the second or third motivation, identify the dependent variable, the independent variable(s) and write an alternative directional hypothesis for the study.
[Hint: Think about which variable probably occurs or varies or changes first and which variable probably follows.]
[Remember: if the study involves a motivation to describe a variable, part b. is irrelevant.]
- What was the U.S. consumer savings rate in 2002, 2007, 2010, and 2013?
- Do self-esteem rating scales differ between teenagers who live in two-parent households versus those who live in single-parent households?
- What is the effect of attending a peer nutrition counseling program on college students’ knowledge of healthy food three months later?
- Holding constant husbands’ wage rates, is there an effect of wives’ wage rates on their husbands’ time allocation to household works?
- Are California counties’ unemployment rates associated with California counties’ rates of substandard (“low quality”) housing among female headed households?
- What is the proportion of U.S. households who have used online banking services?
- What is the effect of a change in the price of organic milk on the quantity demanded of organic milk by American consumers?
- Is the effect of organic milk price change on the quantity demanded of organic milk the same for consumers of different ethnicities (Caucasian-Americans, African-Americans, and Asian Americans)? (Hint: how many I.V.s are there?)
- Practice with hypothesis: Mark the letter of the correct answer on the left.
- Which of the following is a null hypothesis?
- There is a statistically significant difference in loan rejection rates of white males, white females, African-American males, and African-American females.
- Loan approvals are dependent upon applicants’ gender.
- There is no relationship between applicants’ race and gender and the rate at which their loan applications are approved.
- Bank lending practices are discriminatory in terms of race and gender.
- All of the above.
- What is an example of an alternate one-tailed (or directional) hypothesis?
- There is a statistically significant relationship between college students’ opportunity cost of time and their grade point average.
- Students who have higher opportunity const of time have lower grade point average than those who have a lower opportunity cost of time.
- The opportunity cost of students’ time is related to their grades.
- There is no statistically significant difference in the opportunity cost of time of student with different grade point of average.
- None of the above.
- Which of the following is a hypothesis of an interaction effect of two independent variables?
- Married males have the highest rates of obesity, followed proportionately by single males, married females, and single females.
- Males have higher rates of obesity than do females.
- Married males have the highest rates of obesity, followed successively by married females, single females, and single males.
- Single people have higher rates of obesity than married people.
- None of the above.
- Which of these is a hypothesis with a curvilinear effect of one variable on another?
- There is a positive relationship between consumers’ age and their willingness to shop online up until age 40; after that age, there is no relationship between consumers’ age and willingness to shop online.
- As the price of gasoline decreases, the quantity of gasoline demanded increases proportionately (that is, for a one unit decrease in one, there is a one unit increase in the other).
- Individuals become more risk averse with each successive year of age.
- There is a positive relationship between children’s time horizon and their likelihood of saving any money from their allowances.
- None of the above.
- What is true about this hypothesis: controlling for their attitudes toward debt, individuals who are more knowledgeable about credit have lower levels of debt.
- This is a hypothesis of an interaction effect.
- Respondents’ attitudes toward debt is the dependent variable.
- The control variable (or covariate) is level of debt.
- The independent variable is knowledge about credit.
- All of the above.
- Process of arriving at a research question and hypothesis
What is wrong with all of the following purpose statements?
- The purpose of my study is to analyze retirement in the U.S.
- I will study single-parent families in the U.S.
- My purpose in doing this research is to investigate consumers’ knowledge about nutrition.
- The purpose of this research is to study nutrition and cancer.
- The purpose of this research is to study families’ finances.
- I will study functional food.
- The purpose of this research is to study parents’ marital satisfaction and children’s wellbeing.
- This research will focus on green design.
- The purpose of this study is to investigate childhood obesity.
Select one of those purpose statements and improve it.
a). First, write a more specific purpose statement
b). Next, write a research question with at least one independent and one dependent variable.
c). Then, write a null hypothesis for your new research question.
d). Finally, write an alternative directional (one-tailed, preferred) or non-directional hypothesis for your new research question. [At this point, this dose not have to be “justified;” just be sure to state a relationship and/or a direction of the relationship that seem plausible.]
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