Assignment 1: ANCOVA in SPSS

Earlier this week, you practiced using ANCOVA models with SPSS and, ideally, used the Collaboration Lab to ask, answer, and otherwise address any questions you had. In this Assignment, you apply what you learned to answer a social research question using ANCOVA. Hopefully you are not yet tired of comparing means!

To prepare

• Review the datasets provided.
• Construct a research question based on one of those datasets.
• Pay attention to the assumptions of this test, and ask, “Does it make sense to interpret the mean of this dependent variable?”

By Day 7

The Assignment

Use SPSS to answer the research question you constructed. Write an analysis in APA format, including title page, references, and an appendix, that includes your data output and addresses each of the tasks listed below. The content should be 2–3 pages, including setup of the assignment, results, and interpretation of results. Your SPSS output should be included as an appendix.

1. What is the null hypothesis for your question?
2. What research design(s) would align with this question?
3. What dependent variable was used and how is it measured?
4. What independent variable is used and how is it measured?
5. What is your covariate?
6. What is the answer to your research question?
7. What are the possible implications of social change?

Early in your Assignment, when you relate which dataset you analyzed, please include the mean of the following variables. If you are using the Afrobarometer Dataset, report the mean of Q1 (Age). If you are using the General Social Survey Dataset, report the mean of Age. If you are using the HS Long Survey Dataset, report the mean of X1Par1Edu. See pages 713 and 714 in your Warner textbook for an excellent APA-compliant write-up of an ANCOVA.