1) Compare the role of theory in quantitative and qualitative research.

Qualitative study is an inquiry which seeks to understand social phenomena through the
exploration and interpretation of the meanings people attach to, and make sense of, their
experiences of the social world.
Qualitative research is an inquiry based on testing a theory composed of variables, measured
with numbers and analyzed with statistical procedures, in order to determine whether the
predictive generalizations of the theory hold true
2) What role does the literature review play in your research? What does it need to show?
Literature review plays an important role in any research. We conduct a literature review because

It tells us what sort of work is already been published.

It also tells us about various research gurus,
It often shows the gaps in research. We can see what sort of work is already being done

and what is still there.

It provides us context for the research
It shows that researcher didnt do the work which is already being published.
It shows what how previous researchers studied the subject previously.
It tells us that where you work in going to fit in.
It provides a grounding in your research.

It should need to show what previously been done. It should justify the scope and purpose of
your research. It needs to show that why your work is important and how much it can contribute.
3) What is the difference between reliability and validity?
Reliability tells us about the consistency or stability of the test score, it tells us how much our
data is reliable and can we apply our data on general population; while validity is how much a
test measure what it supposed to measure.
4) What is a null hypothesis? When would we reject the null hypothesis?
The null hypothesis is the opposite of what you are testing in your research. Its an established
fact. It is something you can disapprove. Its normally shown by Ho.
5) What does the R2 value explain in a linear regression model?
R2 in linear regression shows that how much our model is explained by the variables included in
our study. Like if the value of R2 is .50. It shows that variables in our study are being explained
50%, while 50% is not explained due to some other variables which we didnt include in our
research.

6) Explain the difference between random and systemic error in statistics?

Random errors in the experiment are caused by unpredictable changes. We can minimize them,
but we cannot nullify them. These random errors may occur because of weather conditions
while doing the experiments, or distortion while collecting data from respondents etc. while the
systemic random errors usually come from measuring instruments. Like we can get some wrong
weights because weight machine is not working right. We can control systematic random errors.
7) In creating a research design, we mentioned two major concerns as ecological fallacies
and the Hawthorne Effect. Define each of these concepts and explain how they can
affect the outcome of your research.
Ecological fallacy is that results of population applied to all the individual in that population.
Like if the results of a research show that the average income of the population is $2000 per
month than ecological fallacy indicates that all people in that population are having an average
income of $2000. We cannot apply it to our population because some of people in the population
might have income more than $2000 while some can have less income. It can change the results
of our research with greater extent. Hawthorne effects states that some people work better when
they are monitored, treated differently or being watched. These experiments cannot depict the
right results like if someone knows that he is being watched can become more productive than
when he is not watched. So it can change the outcome of the research with greater extent.
8) Explain when you would use a logistic regression model compared to an OLS
regression model and why.
When our dependent variable is measured categorically, we cannot use Ordinary Least Squares
(OLS). So for nominal or two category ordinal level data, we use logistic regression. OLS
explain the change in our dependent variable for a one-unit change in our independent variable,
holding the effects of all other variables constant.

Data Analysis Questions

1) Using the NES 2008 data set, analyze the measures of central tendency for the age
variable. In your interpretation of this variable, include an analysis of the mean and median,
the standard deviation and the distribution of the data (Hint: obtain a histogram from SPSS).
After analyzing the histogram and measures of central tendency do you have any concerns

about the composition of the sample in regards to age? Are there age groups that are
oversampled or under sampled in your opinion? 8 points.
Statistics
Age of Respondent
N

Valid
Missing

2280
43

Mean

46.85

Median

46.00

Mode
Std. Deviation

47
17.724

In the above table there are 2080 observations on which 43 are missing so, after the analysis, we
got the mean of 46.85 which is approximately 47. It shows that most of the respondents involved
in this research are 47 years old while there is some dispersion around the mean which is 17.724.
It tells us how dispersed the data is around the mean. At the simplest level, the higher the
standard deviation, the more dispersed the data. 68% of people in this research are aged between
29 to 65 years. While 95% respondents in this research are having age between 11 to 82 years
old. Only 2.5% people are 82 years old while 2.5% are 11 years old. In other words, we can say
that most of the respondents in this research are people with age lies between around 20 to 82
years.

In the above histogram regarding age, it is shown that data is positively skewed. Most of the
respondents under this research are aged approximately between 18 to 90 years while there are
only 2.5% respondents with the age of 82 or more so, its not much. The histogram shows that
people in the age group of 20 to 40 are oversampled as most of the data is collected from them
while 60 to 80 years old, people are under sampled as less data is collected from them, but
overall I think this distribution is representing the right picture because most of the youth are
aged between 18 to 30 which is represented in this distribution.
2) Using the GSS 2008 data construct a Cross-Tab and interpret the results for whether or
not education and partisanship play a role in peoples opinions about the role of women
in society. Be sure to assess the table results and their statistical significance. The two
variable names you will use are educ4 and femrole2 which provides a four level
measure of education and asks people whether they believe a womans place is in the

home or the workplace. For the second Cross-Tab compare partyid3 and femrole2.
18 points.
Education: 4 categories * Female role: Home or work? Crosstabulation
Female role: Home or work?
Home
Education: 4 categories

0-11 yrs

Count
% within Female role: Home
or work?

12 yrs

Count
% within Female role: Home
or work?

13-15 yrs

Count
% within Female role: Home
or work?

16-plus yrs

Count
% within Female role: Home
or work?

Total

Count
% within Female role: Home
or work?

Work

Total

158

67

225

25.2%

9.9%

17.3%

194

162

356

31.0%

24.0%

27.4%

145

216

361

23.2%

32.0%

27.8%

129

229

358

20.6%

34.0%

27.5%

626

674

1300

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

In the table above it is shown that female with 0 to 11 years education. 9.9% of the female does
work while 25.2% stay at home. With 12 years of education, 31% of female stay home while
24% do the work. 13 to 15 years of education shows that 23.2% female stays at home while
32% do the work. Finally, women with 16 plus years of education shows that 20.6% female
stays at home while 34% do the work.

Chi-Square Tests

Value

df

Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

.000

Likelihood Ratio

81.351

.000

Linear-by-Linear Association

74.898

.000

Pearson Chi-Square

N of Valid Cases

79.914

1300

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 108.35.

The value of chi-square generally indicating the significance. We can say that these results are
applicable in entirely population. The significant p-value is showing that sample result is
applicable on the entire population because its less than .05.
Party ID: 3 cats * Female role: Home or work? Crosstabulation
Female role: Home or work?
Home
Party ID: 3 cats

Dem

Count
% within Female role: Home
or work?

Ind

Count
% within Female role: Home
or work?

Rep

Count
% within Female role: Home
or work?

Total

Count
% within Female role: Home
or work?

Work

Total

199

276

475

32.4%

41.8%

37.2%

241

227

468

39.2%

34.3%

36.7%

175

158

333

28.5%

23.9%

26.1%

615

661

1276

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

In the table above it is shown that 32.4% people having association with Democratic Party
believe that women should stay at home while 41.8% believes that they should work. 39.2%
People having association with independent parties believes that female should stay at home
while 34.3% believe that they should work. In case of Republican 28.5% people believe that
women should stay home while 23.9% believe that they should work. These results are showing
that education and partisanship does play a role in peoples opinion of female in society. It is
shown in the above table more democratic people thinks that women should work with respect to
independent and republican people. Same in the case of education like it is shown that female
with less education tend to stay at home instead of doing work but with the increase in education
most of them do work instead of staying at home.
Chi-Square Tests

Asymp. Sig. (2Value

df

sided)

.002

12.166

.002

Linear-by-Linear Association

9.977

.002

N of Valid Cases

1276

Pearson Chi-Square

12.126

Likelihood Ratio

a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum

expected count is 160.50.

The value of chi-square generally indicating the significance. We can say that these results are
applicable in entirely population. The significant p-value is showing that sample result is
applicable on the entire population because its less than .05.
3) Does liking the Democratic Party mean you dislike the Republicans? Assess the answer
to this question using the NES 2008 data set to estimate a correlation model between the
feeling thermometers towards Democrats and Republicans. Use the variables
dem_therm and rep_therm Interpret your correlation coefficient and its statistical
significance to answer this question. 12 points.
Correlations

Feeling Thermometer:

Pearson Correlation

Democratic Party

Sig. (2-tailed)
N

Feeling

Feeling

Thermometer:

Thermometer:

Democratic

Republican

Party

Party
1

-.475**
.000

2269

2259

**

Feeling Thermometer:

Pearson Correlation

-.475

Republican Party

Sig. (2-tailed)

.000

2259

2268

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

In the table above peoples feelings towards the Democratic Party and Republican Party co-vary
but its moderate negative correlation. As one goes up, other goes down. So we can say that more
a person likes democratic more he dislike republican or vice versa. The p-value is less than .05

which is showing that there is enough evidence to show that the correlation which we observed
does exist in the population.
4)

In the last 20 years the negative connotation of being on welfare has increased, despite
increasing wealth disparities and little to no growth in real household incomes. For this
question, use the NES 2008 data set to run a linear regression model assessing what effect
the following variables have on peoples opinions of welfare recipients. Your dependent
variable is welfare_therm and your independent variables are age hh_kids
Hispanic income5 gender partyid7 and educ_r2 Explain the effects of the
significant coefficients and assess the overall explanatory power of the model. Remember
you must know how the variables are measured to assess their impact. 22 points.

Coefficientsa
Standardized
Unstandardized Coefficients
Model
1

B
(Constant)

Std. Error

59.163

3.942

.081

.028

-.082

Hispanic ethnicity
R income quintile

Age of Respondent
Number of children in HH

R gender
Summary Party ID

Coefficients
Beta

Sig.

15.009

.000

.068

2.871

.004

.604

-.003

-.136

.892

-1.521

1.657

-.021

-.918

.359

-3.065

.356

-.212

-8.618

.000

1.826

.968

.044

1.887

.059

-1.572

.227

-.155

-6.936

.000

3.016

.990

.072

3.047

.002

RECODE of educ_r (Highest

grade of school or year of
college R completed)
a. Dependent Variable: Feeling thermometer: PEOPLE ON WELFARE

In our model the value of the constant is almost 59%. Which means that if all independent
variables has no impact we expect on average negative connotation towards welfare by 53%. In
age of respondent if we move towards a respondent how refused to tell his age to one how dont
know his age. The feelings towards people on welfare increases by .081. Our second variable is

the number of children in household where 0 is representing no kids, 1 is representing 1 kid and
2 is representing 2 or more kids. The beta value is -.082 which shows that when you have 0 kids
to when you have 1 kid your feeling towards welfare decreases by .082. The third variable is
Hispanic ethnicity in which 1 is representing Hispanic while 2 is representing non-Hispanic. The
beta value is -1.52 which is showing that when you go from being Hispanic to being nonHispanic your feelings towards welfare decreases by -1.52. Fourth variable is R income quantile
in which peoples income is divided into five separate groups which is the lower 20%, 20 to
40%, 40 to 60%, 60 to 80%, and 80 to 100%. People with1 are among the lowest 20%, while
people how are 5 are among the top 20 %. So when we move from 1 to 5 we know people make
more money. The beta value is -3.065 which means when you move 1 unit from lower income to
higher income thinking towards welfare become negative. Fifth variable is gender, where 1 is
male and 2 is female so, it shows that when we move 1 unit from male to female peoples'
feelings towards welfare increases means that they starts to think positive towards welfare. Our
sixth variable is party id the scale from 0 to 6 in which 0 represents strong democrat, 1 as weak
democrat, 2 as independent democrat, 3 as Independent, 4 as Independent Republican, 5 as weak
Republican and 6 as strong Republican. In the scale when we move from 0 to 6 our feeling
towards welfare drops by -1.572. In other case we can say that when a respondent move 1 point,
down from week democrat to strong democrat and so on they starts to think bad towards welfare.
Our last variable is education where 1 is representing high school or less while 2 is representing
high school or more. The beta value is 3.016 which means that when we moves from a person
with education of high school or less to a person with high school or more. The opinion towards
welfare increase by 3.016.
We accept the null hypothesis of Hispanic ethnicity, number of childrens in HH, gender R. these
variable means that these variables have no impact of people feeling towards welfare based on its
p value which is higher than 0.05 and standard error. However age of respondent, income
quantile, summary party id and education do impact how people feel about welfare.
Model Summary

Model
1

R
.287a

R Square
.083

Adjusted R

Std. Error of the

Square

Estimate
.079

20.029

a. Predictors: (Constant), RECODE of educ_r (Highest grade of school

or year of college R completed), Number of children in HH, Summary
Party ID, R gender, Hispanic ethnicity, Age of Respondent, R income
quintile

In our model summary the value of R2 is .083 which means that our model explains almost 8% of
variance. Means that 8% of what impacts that how people feel about welfare is being explained
by the model. This means that 92% of what people thinks about welfare is not explained by
model or its explained by something else which we have not included in here. So, there is still a
need to get some more variables because our R2 is not explaining everything.