Discussion: The Importance of Relationships
As its name implies, confidence intervals provide a range of
values, along with a level of confidence, to serve as an estimate of
some unknown population value. Since it is rare to have access to the
entire population, you must frequently rely on the confidence interval
of the sample to make some inference about the population of interest.
Before making accurate inferences to the population, we need to fully
understand how the three key components of the interval—variability in
the data, sample size, and confidence level—impact the width of the
interval.
For this Discussion, you will explore the relationship between
these components and understand the trade-off between reducing risk in
our confidence of estimates and increasing precision.To prepare for this Discussion:
Review Chapters 6 and 7 of the Frankfort-Nachmias &
Leon-Guerrero text and in Chapter 7, p. 188, consider Hispanic migration
and earnings and focus on how different levels of confidence and
sample size work together.
Review Magnusson’s web blog found in the Learning Resources
to further your visualization and understanding of confidence intervals.Use the Course Guide and Assignment Help found in this
week’s Learning Resources to search for a quantitative article related
to confidence intervals.Using the SPSS software, General Social Survey dataset and choose a quantitative variable that interests you.Using SPSS:Take a random sample of 100.Calculate the 95% confidence interval for the variable. Calculate a 90% confidence interval.Take another random sample of 400.Calculate the 95% confidence interval for the variable. Calculate a 90% confidence interval.Post your results and an explanation of how different levels
of confidence and sample size affect the width of the confidence
interval. Next, consider the statement, “Confidence intervals are
underutilized” and explain what the implications might be of using or
not using confidence intervals. Provide examples based on the results of
your data. Also, use your research to support your findings.
Be sure to support your Main Post and Response Post with
reference to the week’s Learning Resources and other scholarly evidence
in APA Style.Required Readings
Frankfort-Nachmias, C., & Leon-Guerrero, A. (2018). Social statistics for a diverse society (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Chapter 5, “The Normal Distribution” (pp. 128-150) Chapter 6, “Sampling and Sampling Distributions” (pp. 151-178) Chapter 7, “Estimation” (pp. 179-201)
Wagner, W. E. (2016). Using IBM® SPSS® statistics for research methods and social science statistics (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Chapter 3, “Selecting and Sampling Cases” Chapter 5, “Charts and Graphs”Chapter 11, “Editing Output”
Magnusson, K. (n.d.). Welcome to Kristoffer Magnusson’s blog
about R, Statistics, Psychology, Open Science, Data Visualization
[blog]. Retrieved from http://rpsychologist.com/index.html
As you review this web blog, select the Interpreting Confidence Intervals – new d3.js visualization link,
once you select the link, follow the instructions to view the
interactive for confidence intervals. This interactive will help you to
visualize and understand confidence intervals.
Note: This is Kristoffer Magnusson’s personal blog and his views may not necessarily reflect the views of Walden University faculty.
Walden University Library. (n.d.). Course Guide and Assignment Help for RSCH 8210. Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/rsch8210
For help with this week’s research, see this Course Guide and related weekly assignment resources.
Datasets
Document: Data Set 2014 General Social Survey (dataset file)
Use this dataset to complete this week’s Discussion.
Note: You will need the SPSS software to open this dataset.
Document: Data Set Afrobarometer (dataset file)
Use this dataset to complete this week’s Assignment.
Note: You will need the SPSS software to open this dataset.
Document: High School Longitudinal Study 2009 Dataset (dataset file)
Use this dataset to complete this week’s Assignment.
Note: You will need the SPSS software to open this dataset.