Once you have created your proposal, received feedback, and refined the direction of your research
project, the next step is to begin preparing and analyzing your data, including basic descriptive statistics
such as measures of central tendency and dispersion. This is the work that occurs ‘behind the scenes’; it is
an iterative process of preparing variables, analyzing the data, and refining the analytical approach until a
final product is reached.
Feedback on this assignment will be used to identify adjustments that might be necessary prior to
proceeding to the next assignment. It is compulsory to submit Assignment 1 in order to proceed to
Assignment 2
This assignment builds on Assignment 1 and draws mainly from content covered in Modules 3, 4, and 5.
* Module 3 covers both univariate and bivariate descriptive statistics, this assignment will focus on
univariate descriptive statistics only. You will come back to the bivariate descriptive material in Module 3
when you do Assignment 3 *
**Reminder**
This is an individual project and you should in no way collaborate with fellow class-mates on this
assignment, nor should you attempt to submit work by previous students. Plagiarism is a serious academic
nse and will result in a failing grade. For more information, see academic integrity and plagiarismLinks
to an external site..
Your Report for Assignment 2
You will write a report that provides written detail about your variables (and any recoding you did), presents
basic descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency and dispersion, and presents the results
of a missing data analysis. Your report should display output from SPSS for your descriptive analysis.
How to Structure your Report for Assignment 2
Your report should be 4 to 6 double spaced pages (not including the title page, references, or screenshots).
Please include a title page, use 12 pt Times New Roman font, and standard margins.
Your report should include the following subheadings:
ELEMENT
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION
3 marks
Briefly describe your research project including your motivation, research questions, sample and methods.
This should be a short summary of your Assignment 1 report.
PREPARING DATA FOR ANALYSIS
12 marks
Create/recode the variables you will use in your analysis (you proposed these variables in Assignment 1 –
this time you will actually create and use these variables in SPSS)
Make sure the missing values are classified as missing in SPSS (e.g. many variables have “not stated”
coded as 8 and “don’t know” coded as 9. These need to be recoded as system missing in SPSS)
Provide screenshots or cut and paste from your SPSS display to show how each of your variables are
coded
Provide a written description of the variables you are using in your project, including how they are
operationalized, the level of measurement, and how they are coded.
This section draws on the knowledge and skills learned in Module 2 and 3
MISSING DATA ANALYSIS
4 marks
After recoding your variables, describe the nature and extent of missing data on each variable (e.g., how
many cases were coded as missing on each variable?);
Select and describe the most appropriate method for handling missing data (if there is any), and apply it for
subsequent analyses
This section draws on the knowledge and skills learned in Module 5DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
15 marks
Conduct the appropriate univariate descriptive analyses for each of your variables, describing the
procedure(s) for conducting these analyses;
For each variable, calculate an appropriate measure of central tendency and an appropriate measure of
dispersion (if there is an appropriate measure of dispersion). Provide screenshots or cut and paste your
SPSS output/results.
Display your results in a Descriptive Statistics Table like the one on the “Organizing/Displaying Quantitative
Findings” page in Module 3
Create graphical displays of the frequency distribution for at least two of your variables (this might include a
bar graph, histogram, boxplot etc).
Briefly interpret the results of your univariate descriptive statistics to highlight the sample characteristics
This section draws on the knowledge and skills learned in Module 3 and 4
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
1 mark