Assignment: Career Educational Psychology

Assignment: Career Educational Psychology

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Analyze a journal article in your career specialization that reports one of these statistical tests: correlation, t tests, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). In a maximum of 600 words using the DAA Template, provide a summary of the research study, identify the variables, articulate the research question and hypotheses, interpret the test statistic, and provide conclusions as well as the strengths and limitations of the study.

Note: Completing this journal article summary requires the knowledge and experience gained from completing the other four assessments in this course. Therefore, you must complete these assessments prior to beginning work on Assessment 5.

By the time you have finished the first four assessments, you will have studied three fundamental statistics used in research, including correlation, t tests, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). You are now prepared to analyze a journal article in your career specialization that reports one of these statistical tests.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 1: Analyze the computation, application, strengths, and limitations of various statistical tests.
  • Locate a scholarly journal article in a career specialization that reports a correlation, a t test, a one-way ANOVA, or some combination.
  • Generate a conclusion that includes strengths and limitations of the journal article.
• Competency 2: Analyze the decision-making process of data analysis.
  • Provide context for the research study, including a definition of variables and scales of measurement.
  • Identify assumptions of the statistic reported in the journal article.
• Competency 3: Apply knowledge of hypothesis testing.
  • Articulate the research question, null hypothesis, alternative hypothesis, and alpha level.
• Competency 4: Interpret the results of statistical analyses.
  • Report the results of the journal article, interpreting the statistic against the null hypothesis.
• Competency 7: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with the expectations for members in the identified field of study.

The intent of this assessment is to:

• Expose you to professional literature in your discipline.
• Provide practice in the interpretation of statistical results contained in an empirical (data-based) journal article.
• Provide practice in writing and thinking in a concise and economical manner that is typical of scientific discourse.Communicate in a manner that is concise and professional and that makes proper use of APA formatting.

For this assessment, you will identify a published research article either in the print literature or online in the Capella University Library. Your article must be based on empirical (data-based) research; qualitative or purely descriptive research is not appropriate. Select a journal article in your career specialization that reports a correlation, a t test, a one-way ANOVA, or some combination of these test statistics. The library guides listed in the Resources area can help you to locate appropriate articles.

The intent of this assessment is to:

• Expose you to professional literature in your discipline.
• Provide practice in the interpretation of statistical results contained in an empirical (data-based) journal article.
• Provide practice in writing and thinking in a concise and economical manner that is typical of scientific discourse.

You will summarize the article in a maximum of 600 words using the DAA Template located in the Resources area under the Required Resources heading. Specific instructions for completing each section of the DAA Template are listed below.

You may use some of the author’s own words to summarize the article with proper citation, but avoid lengthy direct quotes (such as copying multiple sentences or paragraphs verbatim). You should not exceed the limit of 600 words. This is a situation where less is better.

Step 1: Write Section 1 of the DAA

• Provide a brief summary of the journal article.
• Include a definition of the specified variables (predictor, outcome) and corresponding scales of measurement (nominal, continuous).
• Specify the sample size of the data set.
• Discuss why the journal article is relevant to your career specialization.

Step 2: Write Section 2 of the DAA

• Discuss the assumptions of the statistical test used in the journal article.
  • If possible, identify information in the article about how these assumptions were tested.
  • If no information on assumptions is provided, consider this as a limitation of the reported study.

Step 3: Write Section 3 of the DAA

• Specify the research question from the journal article.
• Articulate the null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis.

Step 4: Write Section 4 of the DAA

• Report the results of the statistical test using proper APA guidelines. This includes:
  • The statistical notation (such as r, t, or F).
  • The degrees of freedom.
  • The statistical value of r, t, or F, and the p value.
• Report the effect size and interpretation if one is provided.
• Interpret the test statistic with regard to the null hypothesis.

Step 5: Write Section 5 of the DAA

• Discuss the conclusions of the statistical test as it relates to the research question.
• Conclude with an analysis of the strengths and limitations of the study reported in the journal article.