Statistical Analysis in Criminal Justice – Project
You have been hired by the Provost of GSU to work on a research project. The provost is interested in learning more about students who attend universities throughout the country, especially in terms of how they are faring. She would like to see a 6-10 page report (text should be single-spaced) that describes the sample of college students you analyze in terms of demographic characteristics. She also is interested in bivariate relationships that would help her understand how students are doing (e.g., you could tell her about gender differences in victimization). Because you are criminal justice students, make sure you’re your memo concerns issues related to criminology, victimology, and criminal justice.
To complete your project, you will be using data from the American College Health Assessment National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA II). These data reflect data from college students throughout the United States. Students complete a survey in which they are asked questions about their college experience, their health, and their behavior among other things. I have taken a subsample of the full data set of 150 cases.
These data are available in the Final Project Folder in iCollege. The Data tab includes the data and Sheet 1 includes a description of the variables in each column. The full survey instrument can be found here https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/ACHA-NCHA_IIc_Paper_Survey.pdf (note that not all survey items are included in your data). To learn more about the data you can read the major report from the 2013 data that you are using here https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/ACHA-NCHA-II_ReferenceGroup_ExecutiveSummary_Spring2013.pdf (note that since your file is only a subsample of cases, the statistics reported here will be different from what you find).
In your memo, you should specifically address the following:
a. Identify 2 null and research hypotheses that you will be able to test. Your hypotheses will include 2 variables each and must use unique variables in each. You must include an introductory paragraph(s) that describes what you are examining and why. The WHY must be justified by using existing literature. You must use at least 2 peer-reviewed journal articles to justify what you are examining. For example, if you are interested in examining the relationship between college students attending class and their GPA, you should find a peer-reviewed article that notes that there is a relationship between these two variables. You must do this for both hypotheses. If you were to explore this relationship for your first hypothesis, you would NOT be able to use the variable attending class or GPA in your second hypothesis.
b. A table that shows the descriptive statistics of your sample in terms of who is in the sample (demographics). Remember to use the appropriate descriptive statistics given your level of measurement. This table must include a write-up that describes your sample.
c. At least 4 different graphs or charts (e.g., bar chart, histogram, pie chart, line graph) that describe your independent variable (2) and your dependent variables (2). These charts must have a write up to describe your findings. Each chart should have at least 2 sentences that describe what the chart shows.
d. Perform your 2 hypothesis tests using the correct statistic. You must include in your report specifics from your hypothesis tests in a table and describe your findings in writing. You must also make conclusions about your research so that the Provost can understand what you found. Remember to discuss statistical significance! You must also submit in iCollege your Excel Workbook that includes a new worksheet labelled “Final Project”. In this worksheet you will cut and paste the 4 variables that you used for your analyses and will display your output that you generated from Excel.
e. A concluding paragraph that summarizes all of your findings.
You will be graded on the following: (see Grading Rubric for Points)
Writing and Clarity
Correct analyses performed
Correct and comprehensive write-up of analyses
Visual presentation of charts
Visual presentation of report
