SPSS Data Assignment SW4810

Name: _________Lindsay Britcher__________

Part I: Planning our Analysis
Research Questions, null and alternative hypotheses, and Data Analysis Plan
1 Pearson r
a Research Question: Is there a relationship between GPA and if a
person has tried marijuana?
b Null hypothesis: There is no relationship between a persons GPA
and if they have tried marijuana.
c Alternative (Research) hypothesis: There is a significant
relationship between GPA and if a person has tried marijuana.
2 Chi Square
a Research Question: Is there a relationship between gender and if
a person has ever tried marijuana?
b Null hypothesis: There is no relationship between gender and if a
person has ever tried marijuana.
c Alternative hypothesis: There is a significant relationship
between gender and if a person has ever tried marijuana.
3 T-test or Analysis of Variance (you can select either test)
a Research Question: Is there a significant relationship between
gender and the number of times a person smoked marijuana?
b Null hypothesis: There is no relationship between gender and
marijuana use.
c Alternative hypothesis: There is a significant relationship
between gender and the number of times people have smoked
marijuana.

Bivariate analysis
Statistical Test

Independent
Variable (level of
measurement)

Dependent Variable
(level of measurement)

Pearson r
(correlation)

Tried
marijuana(nominal)

GPA (Ratio/interval)

Chi-Square

Gender (nominal)

Tried Marijuana (nominal)

ANOVA

Gender(nominal)

Times smoked
Marijuana(nominal)

Data and Methods

Data
Data is drawn from the Monitoring the Future. This is an ongoing study that
measures longitudinal changes in the beliefs, attitudes, and behavior of
secondary school students, college students, and young adults in the United
States. Since 1975 the study has been conducted annually by the University
of Michigans Institute for Social Research. With financial support from the
National Institute on Drug Abuse, the study has addressed a range of topics
related to substance use among young people. Substance use among youth
is a rapidly changing phenomenon and the study was designed to
understand shifts in the patterns of drug and alcohol use among youth. The
study also monitors attitudes towards drugs and alcohol held by this
population, as that data can be significant in mapping current and future
substance use trends. (Johnston, OMalley, and Schulenberg, 2009)
Purpose of this Current Study
The current study utilizes secondary data to examine factors associated with
substance abuse among teenagers. Specifically, we examine the following
three research questions: 1) Is there a relationship between GPA and if a
person has tried marijuana?, 2) Is there a relationship between gender and if
a person has ever tried marijuana?, 3) Is there a significant relationship
between gender and the number of times a person smoked marijuana?
Measures
The measures in this report, including gender, GPA, number of times
marijuana was tried, and if marijuana was ever tried, were measured based
off self-assessment through a survey distributed by Monitoring the Future.
The GPA is measured by a four point scale with 1 being very low grades and
4 being top of the class. When asked if marijuana has ever been tried, the
survey allowed the participants to either answer yes or no. Gender was
asked in the form of either male or female. When the participants were asked
the number of times marijuana was tried they were able to answer based off
a scale of never, 1-2 times, 3-5 times, 6-9 times 10-19 times, 20-39 times or
40 or more times.
Results: Chi-Square
My research question was Is there a relationship between gender and if a
person has ever tried marijuana. My null hypothesis was There is no
relationship between gender and if a person has ever tried marijuana. And
my alternative hypothesis was There is a significant relationship between
gender and if a person has ever tried marijuana. The independent variable
is gender and the dependent variable is if a person has ever tried
marijuana. A Pearson chi-square test was conducted to assess whether

gender has an influence on trying marijuana. Gender does not significantly

affect if a person tries marijuana, x2 (1, N=1381) = 1.950, p=.163.
Results: Correlation
A Pearson product moment correlation was calculated in order to determine
whether your GPA is affected by if you have tried marijuana. GPA is
significantly correlated with whether they have tried marijuana(p<.001),
but the correlation was weak(r=-.227).

Results: T-test
An independent sample t-test was conducted to determine whether the
number of times a person has tried marijuana differs for males or females.
It was found that there is a significant relationship between gender and
how many times teens have tried marijuana. Males ( M=2.86, SD=2.45) on
average have tried marijuana more than females(M=2.44, SD=2.11),
t(1219.32)=3.40, P=.001
TABLES DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
Table 1:
n (%)
Gender
Male
Female
Times smoked
Marijuana
Never
1-2 times
3-5 times
6-9 times
10-19 times
20-39 times
40+ times
Tried Marijuana
No
Yes

637(45.1
%)
775(54.9
%)
801(55.8
%)
146(10.2
%)
92(6.4%)
58(4.1%)
68(4.7%)
61(4.3%)
209(14.6
%)
801(55.8
%)

634(44.2
%)

Table 2: Example of Interval/Ratio Level Descriptives.

GPA

N
1436

Mean
3.1127

SD
.67251