Week 10 Discussion

Part 1: It is sometimes that case that using existing data is the best option for a study.  There are many credible sources out there that provide very useful information.  Part 2:  It is also often the case that research designs contain multiple variables (ex: more than one independent variable).  This will be explored further in the lab work for this week.  Complete both 1 and 2:

1. Describe a study where you would like to use existing data for your analysis. Why would existing data be appropriate, or needed, for this study? Provide an example of an existing source that you believe provides useful and valid information. What do you like about this particular source?

2. Complete the computer game example from the SPSS workbook (p. 95). Paste the statistics output into your posting (Between-Subjects Factors and Descriptive Statistics at minimum). This output must be included to show you did it. What is the output from the computer game study? Describe what you are able to make sense of. What might you conclude from the findings? 

Week 10 Discussion Answer

A study where I would like to use existing data for analysis would be analyzing hospital records to determine the incidence of a disease in a particular city. Existing data would be appropriate because health facilities have complete information on all recorded cases. In addition, some diseases are not very common so looking for individuals who have the disease would be difficult. This is especially true for diseases that are stigmatized, such as sexually transmitted diseases where patients would rather not tell other people they have the disease.