Question description

 

Required Course Readings

Warner, R. M. (2013). Applied statistics: From bivariate through multivariate techniques (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

• Chapter 16, “Mediation” (pp. 645–687)
  
  This chapter demonstrates how to assess whether a proposed mediating variable may partly or completely mediate the effect of an initial predictor variable on an outcome variable.

Datasets

 

Guided Sample Dataset: Statistics Anxiety

 

Afrobarometer. (2016). Merged data.

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2016). Behavioral risk factor surveillance system.

 

Institute of Education Sciences (IES)/National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). (2009). High school longitudinal study of 2009 (HSLS:09). Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/hsls09/

 

NORC at the University of Chicago. (n.d.). General social survey (GSS).

Optional Resources

Interactive Mediation Tests. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from http://quantpsy.org/sobel/sobel.htm

Assignment 1: Mediation in SPSS

Earlier this week, you practiced testing for mediation and, ideally, used the Collaboration Lab to ask, answer, and otherwise address any questions you had regarding mediation. In this Assignment, you apply what you learned to answer a social research question using multiple regression, including testing for possible mediation. Remember that you must still address all the assumptions for multiple regression.

To prepare

• Review the datasets provided.
• Construct a research question based on one of those datasets.

By Day 7

The Assignment

Based on the research question you created, complete the following tasks:

1. Fit a multiple regression model, using two or more independent variables. Think about whether or not the model will meet assumptions.
2. Fit the model, testing for mediation between two key variables.
3. Analyze the output, determining whether mediation was significant and how to interpret that result.
4. Reflect on possible implications of social change.

Write a 1- to 2-paragraph analysis in APA format that includes your data output and addresses each of the tasks listed above.

Assignment 2: Article Critique

The practice of quantitative research not only involves statistical calculations and formulas but also involves the understanding of statistical techniques related to real-world applications. You might not become a quantitative researcher nor use statistical methods in your profession but as a consumer, citizen, and scholar-practitioner, it will be important for you to become a critical consumer of research, which will empower you to read, interpret, and evaluate the strength of claims made in scholarly material and daily news.

For this Assignment, you will critically evaluate a scholarly article related to mediation.

To prepare

• Review the Article Critique Assignment Guide in the Walden Library, listed in the Week 2 Learning Resources.
• Search the Walden Library for a quantitative article that applies mediation testing.

The Assignment

Write a 2- to 3-page critique of the research you found in the Walden Library that includes responses to the following prompts:

• Why did the authors use mediation in their multiple regression model?
• Do you think mediation is the most appropriate choice? Why or why not?
• Did the authors display the results in a figure or table?
• Does the results table stand alone? In other words, are you able to interpret the study from it? Why or why not?