Section 1: Histograms and Visual Interpretation
Section 1 will include one histogram of “total” scores for all the males in the data set, and one histogram of “total” scores for all the females in the data set.
Create two histograms using the total and gender variables in your grades.sav data set:
• A histogram for male students.
• A histogram for female students.
Below the histograms, provide an interpretation based on your visual inspection. Correctly use all of the following terms in your discussion:
• Skew.
• Kurtosis.
• Outlier.
• Symmetry.
• Modality.
Comment on any differences between males and females regarding their total scores. Analyze the strengths and limitations of visually interpreting histograms.
Section 2: Calculate and Interpret Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
Using the grades.sav file, compute descriptive statistics, including mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis for the following variables:
• id.
• gender.
• ethnicity.
• gpa.
• quiz3.
• total.
Below the Descriptives table, complete the following:
• Indicate which variable or variables are meaningless to interpret in terms of mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis. Justify your decision.
• Next, indicate which variable or variables are meaningful to interpret. Justify your decision. For meaningful variables, specify any variables that are in the ideal range for both skewness and kurtosis.
• Specify any variables that are acceptable but not excellent.
• Specify any variables that are unacceptable. Explain your decisions.
• For all meaningful variables, report and interpret the descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis).
Part 2: Data Screening
For this part of the assessment, respond to the following questions:
What are the goals of data screening? How can you identify and remedy the following?
• Errors in data entry.
• Outliers.
• Missing data.