Identifying and Inputting Variables

Assignment Overview

By successfully completing this assignment, you demonstrate your proficiency in the following competency and specialized behaviors:

• Competency 4: Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
  • C4.SP.A: Apply leadership skills, decision making, and the use of technology to inform evidence-based research practice to develop, implement, evaluate, and communicate interventions across the specialization of advanced generalist practice settings. 
    • Related Assignment Criteria:
      • 1: Devise accurate datasets. 
      • 3: Describe and report the statistical method or test outcomes using the appropriate statistical method or test.
  • C4.SP.B: Apply leadership skills, decision making, and the use of technology to inform program evaluation to develop, implement, evaluate, and communicate interventions across the specialization of advanced generalist practice settings. â€‹
    • Related Assignment Criteria:
      • 2: Enter appropriate statistical data that assists in program evaluation. 
      • 4: Apply critical thinking in verbal and written communication through the use of leadership and technology.

Assignment Scenario

You are overseeing a mentoring program for youth who have been identified as being at risk and you want to complete a program evaluation to measure the impact on youth who participate. You also want to consider whether variables such as sex and race/ethnicity factor into the results.

Assignment Instructions

In the Unit 2 Dataset 1 given in the resources, find baseline data for the youth who have entered the program. From this data, identify all of the variables represented and input the data into an Excel file. Save the file as a "comma separated values" (.csv) file and open this .csv file in JASP. Make sure to modify the data types of each variable to the correct scale of measurement (nominal, ordinal, or scale).

Refer to the JASP Tutorial Video: Modifying Data Types (Nominal, Ordinal Scale), given in the resources.

Save your .jasp file and upload it for grading.

Note that you are not completing any analysis at this point in time. You are simply practicing entering data in Excel and saving it in a format that is then opened in JASP. You need to demonstrate the ability to identify the correct level of measurement for each variable.

Resources

• Identifying and Inputting Variables Scoring Guide.
• JASP Tutorial Video: Adjusting Data Types (Nominal, Ordinal, Scale) [Video].
• Unit 2 Dataset 1 [DOCX].

Unit 2 Dataset 1

The Sunville Youth Services Organization developed a mentoring program for youth, ages 15–19, currently enrolled in high school and at risk of dropping out of school. The program manager believes that giving the youth a mentor will influence the youth’s grades, attendance, self-esteem, and behavior at home. Therefore, the program manager is collecting data to track outcomes associated with this program.

Prior to entering the mentoring program, the following data were collected about the youth participants: 

• Current number of high school credits and whether the youth is on track to graduate (22 credits is required to graduate).• Current grade point average (GPA) on a 4-point scale.• A self-esteem measurement completed by the youth. This scale ranged from 1–30, with 30 indicating a high level of self-esteem.• Attendance records from school that represent the average number of days the youth missed each week over the past 30 school days.• A parent report on the youth’s behavior. The measurement asks: “How would you rate your child’s behavior on a scale of 1–10? 10 indicates the child is cooperative all of the time and 1 indicates that the child rarely is cooperative with the household rules.”

Data:

1. Maribel is a 15-year-old Hispanic female. She currently has two high school credits and is not on track for graduation. Her current GPA is 1.5. When she completed the self-esteem measurement, she scored a “17.” Attendance records indicate she misses an average of 1.4 days of school each week. Her mother reported a score of “3” on the parent report.2. Luisa is a 17-year-old Hispanic female. She currently has six high school credits and is not on track for graduation. Her current GPA is 1.7. When she completed the self-esteem measurement, she scored a “10.” Attendance records indicate she misses an average of 3 days of school each week. Her mother reported a score of “2” on the parent report.3. Susan is a 15-year-old White female. She currently has six high school credits and is on track for graduation. Her current GPA is 2.4. When she completed the self-esteem measurement, she scored a “9.” Attendance records indicate she misses an average of 0.5 days of school each week. Her mother reported a score of “8” on the parent report.4. Keisha is a 16-year-old African-American female. She currently has 1.5 high school credits and is not on track for graduation. Her current GPA is 0.9. When she completed the self-esteem measurement, she scored a “21.” Attendance records indicate she misses an average of 3.2 days of school each week. Her mother reported a score of “1” on the parent report.5. Jose is a 15-year-old Hispanic male. He currently has three high school credits and is not on track for graduation. His current GPA is 1.7. When he completed the self-esteem measurement, he scored a “15.” Attendance records indicate he misses an average of 1.4 days of school each week. His mother reported a score of “3” on the parent report.6. Rico is a 17-year-old Hispanic male. He currently has 15 high school credits and is on track for graduation. His current GPA is 2.5. When he completed the self-esteem measurement, he scored a “10.” Attendance records indicate he misses an average of 1 day of school each week. His mother reported a score of “7” on the parent report.7. Darnell is a 15-year-old African-American male. He currently has seven high school credits and is on track for graduation. His current GPA is 2.7. When he completed the self-esteem measurement, he scored a “9.” Attendance records indicate he misses an average of 0.5 days of school each week. His mother reported a score of “8” on the parent report.8. John is a 16-year-old White male. He currently has 1.5 high school credits and is not on track for graduation. His current GPA is .9. When he completed the self-esteem measurement, she scored a “25.” Attendance records indicate he misses an average of 4.3 days of school each week. His mother reported a score of “1” on the parent report.