I. Research Scenario: An organization wants to know if participants with varying levels of expertise (professionals, paraprofessionals, and nonprofessionals) improve their knowledge after completing a...

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I. Research Scenario:


An organization wants to know if participants with varying levels of expertise (professionals, paraprofessionals, and nonprofessionals) improve their knowledge after completing a training program.


The organization collected demographic information: gender, age, type of training (professional, paraprofessional, or nonprofessional), location of the worksite (on-site or off-site) and years of experience.


A pre-training test of knowledge, a training program, and post-training test of knowledge was developed. Participants were tested, then participated in the three-week training program, and then were tested again.


The dataset also includes (1) a measure of participant confidence in knowledge and (2) a certification exam score.


The data are discipline-neutral. Therefore, part of your final project is to create a context for the research that is associated with your discipline or area of interest (e.g., training to assess mental health status; training to work with special education children; training to become a technician or consultant).



II. Codebook


Variable Information




































































VariableLabelMeasurement ScaleCatagory Name
IDN/AN/AN/A
GenderGenderNominal

1 = Male
2 = Female


ageAge in YearsRatio








qualification











Professional Qualification



Nominal1 = Professional
2 = Paraprofessional
3 = Nonprofessional
worksiteLocation of WorkNominal1 = On-Site
2 = Off-Site
knowledge1Level of knowledge before TrainingIntervalN/A
knowledge2Level of knowledge after TrainingIntervalN/A
yearsYears of ExperienceRatioN/A
confidenceConfidence in knowledgeIntervalN/A
examCertification in knowledgeIntervalN/A


III. Instructions


Overview
Your task is to review the dataset, formulate a context, and then use your knowledge of statistics to answer the research questions and test hypotheses that will help the organization evaluate the effectiveness of the program.


Part I. Create your context.


Using the research scenario and variables identified in the codebook, create a “story” that describes the purpose and focus of the study. In a few paragraphs describe the intent of your investigation in the form of a
problem background
and
purpose statement.


Part II. Describe your sample.


Generate frequency tables and bar charts for the nominal variables. Generate and interpret descriptive statistics of central tendency, variability, skewness, and kurtosis for the continuous (scale) variables. Generate frequency tables and histograms with the normal curve superimposed for each scale variable. Label your tables and graphs according to APA format. Conclude with a paragraph summarizing the demographic characteristics of this sample.



  1. Gender (nominal)

  2. Age (scale)

  3. Qualification (nominal)

  4. Worksite (nominal)

  5. Knowledge1 (scale)

  6. Knowledge2 (scale)

  7. Years (scale)

  8. Confidence (scale)

  9. Exam (scale)


Part III. Describe relationships among the variables.


Select the variables that are measured on interval or ratio scales. Create a correlation matrix. Label the table according to APA format. Identify and discuss the strongest and weakest correlations.


Part IV. Answer any
FOURof the nine following research questions. Clearly identify which question(s) you have selected to answer by writing the number associated with the question (1-9) before each answer. Make sure to select four questions that must be answered by 4
DIFFERENTtests. For example. One t-test, one ANOVA, one regression and one chi-square;
NOT
a single sample t-test, independent sample t-test and paired sample t-test as these all fall under t-test.


Based on the research scenario and the data, restate the research question, identify the Independent and Dependent Variable(s), formulate the hypothesis, conduct an analysis, and interpret the results for each of the following. Please use the 7 step hypothesis testing model for each analysis, including an APA-style conclusion statement summarizing the findings, interpreting the results and answering the research question.



  1. Is there a significant difference in knowledge between on-site and off-site workers

    before

    they take the training?

  2. Is there a significant increase in knowledge as a result of the training?

  3. Do participants of different classifications (professional, paraprofessional, and nonprofessional) perform differently on the certification exam? Which group performs best?

  4. What are the effects of gender and worksite location (on- or off-site) on level of confidence? In other words:

    1. Is there a gender difference in confidence?

    2. Does type of worksite experience affect confidence?

    3. Is there an interaction between gender and worksite in their effect on confidence?



  5. After controlling for prior knowledge, is there a difference between professionals, paraprofessionals, and non-professionals in knowledge after the training?

  6. Does age predict performance on the certification exam?

  7. In addition to age, does confidence improve the ability to predict performance on the certification exam?

  8. Does the distribution of the classifications of participants (professional, paraprofessional, and nonprofessional) differ than what one would expect by chance?

  9. Does the distribution of the classifications (professional, paraprofessional, and nonprofessional) differ from the State data reported as 15%, 25% and 60%?


Part V. Summarize your findings.


Synthesize the results of your five analyses. Include a brief summary of the sample characteristics and the major findings. Interpret the findings so that the organization’s leaders will have an understanding of the similarities and differences in knowledge, and how effective the training program is in improving knowledge.

Answered Same DayDec 23, 2021

Answer To: I. Research Scenario: An organization wants to know if participants with varying levels of expertise...

Robert answered on Dec 23 2021
121 Votes
Problem Background
An Organization has structured a training program for various new recruits to train them for a consultant’s job. The Participants vary from Professionals, Paraprofessionals and Non professionals. The organization wants to study the various factors affecting the change in knowledge of the participants after undergoing the training. For this purpose, demographic information such as Gender, Age, location of training viz Onsite or Offsite, Years of experience on all the participa
nts was collected. Participants were tested for their knowledge before training using a measure of participant confidence in knowledge and then they were trained for three weeks. Following the training the participants were again tested using the same measure for their knowledge. Practically years of experience and location of training should affect the Knowledge level. The relationship between these factors are studied. A certification Exam score is also given to each candidate on the basis of their performance in the test.
Purpose of study
The main purpose of the study was to obtain various factors affecting the knowledge of a new recruit in an organization. The training program helps in understanding the various factors affecting the knowledge and thus a statistical analysis can be done using the scores obtained and the information collected on demographic features. The analysis will help the organization in structuring the recruitment process further and place the various candidates in different departments according to their capabilities.
Descriptive Statistics
The data has three nominal variables namely Gender, Professional Qualification and Location of work. Following tables and Bar Charts describe the composition of data on these variables.
    Gender
    
    
    Frequency
    Percent
    Valid Percent
    Cumulative Percent
    Valid
    male
    28
    46.7
    46.7
    46.7
    
    female
    32
    53.3
    53.3
    100.0
    
    Total
    60
    100.0
    100.0
    
Table 1: Frequency Distribution of Gender.
    Professional Qualifications
    
    
    Frequency
    Percent
    Valid Percent
    Cumulative Percent
    Valid
    Professional
    14
    23.3
    23.3
    23.3
    
    Para-professional
    22
    36.7
    36.7
    60.0
    
    Non-Professional
    24
    40.0
    40.0
    100.0
    
    Total
    60
    100.0
    100.0
    
Table 2: Frequency Distribution of Professional Qualifications.
    Location of Work
    
    
    Frequency
    Percent
    Valid Percent
    Cumulative Percent
    Valid
    On-Site
    31
    51.7
    51.7
    51.7
    
    Off Site
    29
    48.3
    48.3
    100.0
    
    Total
    60
    100.0
    100.0
    
Table 3: Frequency Distribution of Location of Work.
Figure 1: Bar Chart for distribution of Gender in the data.
Figure 2: Bar Chart for distribution of Professional Qualifications in the data.
Figure 3: Bar Chart for distribution of Location of Work in the data.
    Descriptive Statistics
    
    N
    Minimum
    Maximum
    Mean
    Std. Deviation
    Skewness
    Kurtosis
    
    Statistic
    Statistic
    Statistic
    Statistic
    Statistic
    Statistic
    Std. Error
    Statistic
    Std. Error
    Age
    60
    25
    60
    37.03
    9.10
    .62
    .30
    -.38
    .60
    Level of Knowledge BeforeTraining
    60
    25
    48
    34.32
    6.35
    .37
    .30
    -.87
    .60
    Level of Knowledge AfterTraining
    60
    30
    50
    40.08
    5.87
    .19
    .30
    -1.12
    .60
    Years of Experience
    60
    1
    18
    5.98
    4.39
    1.08
    .30
    .25
    .60
    Confidence
    60
    12
    35
    21.03
    5.66
    .52
    .30
    -.36
    .60
    Certification Exam
    60
    50
    90
    70.25
    11.35
    .10
    .30
    -1.18
    .60
    Valid N (listwise)
    60
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
Table 4: Descriptive statistics on scale variables.
Mean Age of the participants is 37 and average years of experience is approximately 6 years with a significant variation. Years of experience is the most skewed variable as can be seen from Table 4.
Figure 4: Histogram of Age distribution and normal curve.
.
    Age
    
    
    Frequency
    Percent
    Valid Percent
    Cumulative Percent
    Valid
    25
    3
    5.0
    5.0
    5.0
    
    26
    2
    3.3
    3.3
    8.3
    
    27
    4
    6.7
    6.7
    15.0
    
    28
    4
    6.7
    6.7
    21.7
    
    29
    4
    6.7
    6.7
    28.3
    
    30
    2
    3.3
    3.3
    31.7
    
    31
    3
    5.0
    5.0
    36.7
    
    32
    1
    1.7
    1.7
    38.3
    
    33
    4
    6.7
    6.7
    45.0
    
    34
    2
    3.3
    3.3
    48.3
    
    35
    3
    5.0
    5.0
    53.3
    
    37
    2
    3.3
    3.3
    56.7
    
    39
    3
    5.0
    5.0
    61.7
    
    41
    2
    3.3
    3.3
    65.0
    
    42
    1
    1.7
    1.7
    66.7
    
    43
    3
    5.0
    5.0
    71.7
    
    44
    4
    6.7
    6.7
    78.3
    
    45
    3
    5.0
    5.0
    83.3
    
    46
    3
    5.0
    5.0
    88.3
    
    47
    1
    1.7
    1.7
    90.0
    
    49
    1
    1.7
    1.7
    91.7
    
    51
    1
    1.7
    1.7
    93.3
    
    54
    1
    1.7
    1.7
    95.0
    
    57
    1
    1.7
    1.7
    96.7
    
    58
    1
    1.7
    1.7
    98.3
    
    60
    1
    1.7
    1.7
    100.0
    
    Total
    60
    100.0
    100.0
    
Table 5: Frequency distribution of Age.
Figure 5: Histogram of Level of Knowledge Before training distribution and normal curve.
    Level of Knowledge BeforeTraining
    
    
    Frequency
    Percent
    Valid Percent
    Cumulative...
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