Question

The Correctional facility that you work is considering using a new program designed to improve the pro-social attitudes of violent offenders. This program, based on a cognitive intervention strategy, involves a six week series of lessons whereby the inmates are given real world scenarios and asked to make decisions on how to handle them.

Prior to the start of the program the inmates are to be given a survey type inventory and asked whether they agree or disagree with various statements. This inventory measures an inmate's capacity to make pro-social choices. The composite score produced by this inventory ranges from 0-100, with 0 indicating a total lack of pro-social (maybe sociopathic) attitudes and 100 indicating the highest level of pro-social attitudes. This is your dependent variable. The warden wants to test the inmates before and after their six weeks of lessons to see of the program increased the inmates' prosocial attitudes. He has asked you to conduct this analysis.

Top begin this analysis answer the following questions.

1. What is the dependent variable analysis?

2. At what level (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio) is dependent variable measured?

3. What is the independent variable in your analysis?

4. How do you intend to measure the independent variables? Be VERY specific here and include this variable attributes and its level of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio).

5. What is the null hypothesis?

6. What is the alternative hypothesis?

7. What type of hypothesis (difference or association) is the alternative hypothesis?

Please include the above questions with your answer in your response.

The table below will be helpful in answering question #7.

If the independent variable is measured at the ____ level of measurement, and The dependent variable is measured at the ______ level of measurement, then The hypothesis is ______.

Nominal Nominal, Ordinal, Scale* Difference

Ordinal, Scale Ordinal, Scale Association

* Interval and Ratio level variables are collapsed into one category called Scale because the statistical tests available for variables measured at both of these levels are the same.

Answer 1

1. What is the dependent variable analysis?
Composite score

2. At what level (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio) is dependent variable measured?
quantitative varibles with is at ratio level.

3. What is the independent variable in your analysis?
Before and after the cognitive intervention program.

4. How do you intend to measure the independent variables? Be VERY specific here and include this variable attributes and its level of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio).

Independent variable is two phase, before the program and after the program, hence they are qualitative variable and must always be seen in the same other order. HEnce its level of measurement is ordinal.

5. What is the null hypothesis?
The mean composite score before and after the program is equal.

$\mu_{before} = \mu_{after}$

6. What is the alternative hypothesis?
The composite score after the program is greater than the score before the program.

$\mu_{before} < \mu_{after}$

7. What type of hypothesis (difference or association) is the alternative hypothesis?
Type of hypothesis :difference