Page 1 of 7 Name _____________________________________

NUR 627: Advanced Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Assignment 2; DUE April 14, 2019

This test includes two sections.

The first section is 26 questions.
The second section is 6 questions related to analyzing and interpreting the data. Download and use
the file “sample_data_Assignment2_SPRING2019.sav”

The total score is 50 points (25% of the grade).

All the questions must be answered and provide rationale for the answers and show the
calculations.

Name the file with your “last name” and attach the file to blackboard in “Assignment2”

1. What are the differences between population parameters and sample statistics?

The difference between a population parameter and a sample statistic is when a researcher
only interprets data from a of population, and a parameter statistic is when the researcher
examines the entire population set of data.

2. Why must the researchers begin with descriptive statistics when the goal is to conduct
inferential statistics?
Researchers begin to examine descriptive statistics because this information provides
researchers with possible correlations between different variables, measures of central
tendency (mean, median, & mode), skewness, standard deviation, quartiles, and range.
This allows researchers to form generalizations about variables relating to a population
which are called inferential statistics.

3. Imagine you are to conduct a study on how weight and age group (18-35, 36-53, and
=>54 years) relate to systolic blood pressure.

a. What are the variables in this

Age group, weight, and systolic blood pressure are the variables.

b. What is the exposure variable? what is its type and measurement?

The exposure variables are the variables that will influence outcomes and in this
case they are Age group (discrete/ordinal measurement), and weight
(continuous/ratio measurement)

c. What is the outcome variable? what is its type and measurement?

The outcome variables involves being influenced by the exposure variables, and
in this case the outcome variable is Systolic BP (continuous/ratio measurement)
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4. Which of the following variables is a ratio variable:

a. Zipcode
b. Gender
c. Income
d. Profit/non profit nursing home

Income is a ratio measurement, considering if a person earned zero dollars this

year, that zero is meaningful. Whereas in temperature for Kelvin 0 K, that 0 is not
a meaningful zero which would make that an interval variable.

5. True or false:
a. An instrument can be reliable without being valid
This is true. An instrument can in fact be reliable without being valid. If someone
took a test 5 times on US history and within the test contained all Chinese history
and you got a 0 score each time, then this test is reliable because your scores are
consistent. However the test is not valid because this is not a test that reflects US
history.

b. An instrument can be valid without being reliable

This statement is false. A test cannot be valid if it is not reliable. If you took that
same test 5 times and every time your scores are fairly different, then it is not
reliable nor valid because it is not measuring what it is supposed to measure.

6. Which of these charts allows a researcher to examine a possible relationship between two
ratio variables
a. Histogram
b. Bar chart
c. Scatter plot
d. Line chart
A scatter plot shows a positive, none, or a negative relationship between two ratio
variable. It also shows the strength of a relationship.

7. What is the mode in of the following data:

a. 120 114 116 117 114 121 124
114 114 116 117 120 121 124 = the mode is the most frequent number we see
which is 114.

b. 117 120 114 116 117 114 121 124

114 114 116 117 117 120 121 124 = there are two most frequent numbers which
are 114 & 117.

8. What is the median of the following data:

a. 120 114 116 117 114 121 124
114 114 116 117 120 121 124 = the middle number is the median which is 117

b. 117 120 114 116 117 114 121 124

Page 3 of 7 Name _____________________________________

114 114 116 117 117 120 121 124 = considering there is an even amount of
numbers you find the median by dividing the two middle numbers in half which
the median is 117.

9. The 95% confidence interval of sodium content level in 32 nursing home patients is 4,250
mg/day and 4750 mg/day. What does this confidence interval tell us?
A confidence interval of 95% shows the researcher that 95% of this data for sodium
content in 32 nursing homes lies between 4,250 and 4,750mg/day.

10. Which of the following is not a measure of central tendency:

a. Mode
b. Inter-quartile range
c. Mean
d. Median

Mean, Median, and mode are all components of central tendency that is used to
describe and organize sample, and interquartile range is the distance between
quartile 1 & 3.

11. The purpose of a study is to test the effect of pressure ulcer prevention in reducing the
incidence of pressure ulcer in critically ill patients in intensive care units.

a. What is the null hypothesis?

The null is what the researcher wants to prove to be wrong; there will not be a
difference in the incidence of pressure ulcers in critically ill clients who are a part
of a control group and an experimental group.

b. What is the alternative hypothesis?

The alternative is what the researcher supports; there will be a difference in the
incidence of pressure ulcers in critically ill clients who are a part of a control
group and an experimental group.

c. What is the exposure variable and its level of measurement?

The exposure variable is the pressure ulcer prevention which is a nominal level

d. What is the outcome variable and its level of measurement?

The outcome variable is the incidence of pressure ulcers which is a ratio level

e. The finding was as follows: intervention group had less pressure ulcer than the
control group (p=0.005). what is the status of the null hypothesis based on this
result?

The p value of this study is less than alpha which is 0.05, which this shows that
there is significance. If there is significance than the researcher should reject the
null hypothesis and conclude that there will be a difference in the effect of
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pressure ulcer prevention and incidence of pressure ulcers in critically ill clients in
the hospital.

12. A type I error is made when:

a. The false null hypothesis is not rejected
b. The true alternative hypothesis is rejected
c. The true null hypothesis is rejected
d. The false alternative hypothesis is not rejected

This type one error is made when the researcher ignores a true null hypothesis.
These errors are controlled through levels of significance.

13. A type II error is made when:

a. The false null hypothesis is not rejected
b. The true alternative hypothesis is rejected
c. The true null hypothesis is rejected
d. The false alternative hypothesis is not rejected

This type two error is made when a researcher accepts a false null hypothesis.

14. True or false: normality is assumed with all parametric statistical tests; therefore, it is
important to check if the data is normally distributed or not.

True; it is assumed that values of variables are normally distributed in a population,

which is why it is important to detect if the data is truly normally distributed or not.

15. Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the strongest relationship?
a. 0.14
b. 0.82
c. -0.02
d. -0.34
e. 0.56
The strongest relationship is the number that is closes to a positive one, which this
value is 0.82. This value represents a positive strong relationship.

16. True or false: if a correlation coefficient is -1.0, it means that the two variables will move
in opposite directions
In a negative correlation variables have an inverse relationship, if the X variable increases
the Y variable decreases.

17. What is the level of measurement for the following variables: age in years, income
group, and blood type?

Age in years: ____ratio; a number has an absolute zero value_____________

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Income group [low, medium, high]: ____ordinal; attributes can be put into order

Blood Type: ____nominal; attributes can only be named__________________

18. What type of statistics (mention all possible statistics) can be used to describe the
variables: age in years, income groups, and blood type? Slide 2 or 7 for “non
parametric tests”

Age in Years: _________________

Income group [low, medium, high]: ______________________

Wilcoxon signed-ranks test is for 2 groups whereas, Friedman Test is for 3 or more groups

Blood Type: ____Cochra’s Q test for 3 or more groups, a Mcnemar would be used for only
2 groups.__________________

19. Does a set of scores with most of its values below the mean have a negatively or
positively skewed distribution? Provide a rationale for your answer.
When most of the values are lower than the mean then this distribution would be a
positively skewed distribution. This distribution would have a curve on the left side and a
tail on the right side.

20. t-statistics = -7.9 and p-value=0.005 describe the difference between women and men for
mental health score.
a. If alpha is set to 0.05, is the p-value of 0.005 statistically significant?
Yes this p-value is significant because the value 0.005 is less than alpha.
b. In a sentence, interpret the p value of 0.005
A p-value of 0.005 is significant at an alpha level of 0.05. This p-value tells the
researcher to reject the null hypothesis.

21. A study found that the Pearson correlation coefficient “r” value for the relationship
between serum level of cholesterol and the age of the patients in years is 0.77 and p-value
was 0.002.
a. Interpret the “r” value of 0.77 [strength and direction] and provide a rationale for
your answer.
An “r” value that is closes to a positive 1 will represent a strong positive
correlation.

b. If alpha is set to be 0.05, is this “r” value of 0.77 and p-value of 0.002 statistically
significant?
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If alpha is set at 0.05 and there is a p-value of 0.002, then there is a statistical
significance.
22. What is the statistical test (procedure) that is used to determine whether a significant
difference exists between three or more group means?

A) t-test
B) ANOVA
C) Correlation coefficient
D) Mann Whitney U test
ANOVA is used to determine if there is significance between 3 or more group means.

23. What type of hypothesis is represented by the statement “women who smoke are more
likely to have low-birth-weight babies relative to women who do not”?

A) Alternative hypothesis
B) Non-directional
C) Research
D) Null hypothesis
The alternative hypothesis is going to represent a difference in outcomes between the variables,
whereas a null hypothesis is going to represent no difference.

24. The nurse researcher is calculating the standard deviation. What is the standard deviation?

A) The average amount of deviation of values from the mode and is calculated for every other
score
B) The average amount of deviation of values from the median and is calculated for every
other score
C) The average amount of deviation of values from the mean and is calculated for every score
D) The average amount of deviation of values from the median and is calculated for every
score
A standard deviation in statistics is a measure that is used to quantify the amount of
variation or dispersion of a set of data values.

25. What is the name for the shape of distribution that occurs when the nurse
researcher has a bell-shaped curve distribution?

A) Frequency
B) Unimodal
C) Multimodal
D) Normal
A bell-shaped curve distribution, also known as a normal distribution has a shape that can be
defined as unimodal; the shape is unimodal because it has only one definite peak within the
distribution that lies in the middle.
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26. What parametric statistical method(s) a researcher can use to determine if the mean
body mass index of the population is the same for two groups of subjects (group1=diet
restriction; group2=none). Slide 6 in parametric statistical tests powerpoint*
A. The name of the statistical test is __Independent groups T-test_______
B. The null hypothesis of the statistical test is __Ho: U1 = U2_____________
C. The alternative hypothesis of the statistical test is _Ha: U1 ≠ U2________

USING THE DATA SET DOWNLOADED FROM BLACKBOARD

“sample_data_Assignment2_SPRING2019.sav”

Answer the following questions:

1. Do frequency for the following variables and interpret the findings: Agecat (Age
category), dhosp (died in hospital).

2. Do descriptive statistics and histogram with normal distribution and interpret the results
for the following variable: fasting_glucose_level (fasting glucose level)

3. Is there a correlation between age (age at admission in years) and fasting_glucose_level

(fasting glucose level)? Report the correlation coefficient (r) [direction and strength] and
interpret the results.

4. Is there a difference between those who died in the hospital and those who did not die in
the hospital [variable name= dhosp (died in hospital)] in the fasting glucose level

a. What statistical test you will use? Is the difference statistically significant?
Explain and interpret the findings.

5. Is there a difference between the Age groups [variable name= Agecat] in the following
variable: fasting glucose level (fasting_glucose_level)

a. What statistical test you will use? Is the difference statistically significant?
Explain and interpret the findings.

6. Write a ONE PAGE summary report for the results of the study and its impact on
nursing practice (i.e., summarize the findings from question 1 to 5) [two points]