Question

A developmental psychologist conducted a study to find out if children who suffered abuse were more likely to interpret neutral facial expressions as being aggressive compared to children who had not suffered abuse. Twenty-four children, ages 8 – 10, were recruited for the study. Eight children were identified as victims of verbal abuse for much of their childhood. Eight children were victims of both verbal and physical abuse. And eight kids were recruited and verified to not have suffered any abuse. Children in the study were shown a picture of an adult male’s face. The facial expression in the picture was rated as ‘neutral’ by an independent set of raters (i.e., the facial expression wasn’t happy or sad). The researcher used a Smiley Face chart that showed very sad faces on one end of the scale and very happy faces on the other end of the scale. Children in each group were shown the picture and then asked to point to the face on the chart. Higher scores on the chart indicated the child interpreted the face shown as being more aggressive/anger. The table below shows the data collected.

Verbal Abuse: 8, 9, 11, 7, 10, 7, 6, 10

Verbal + Physical Abuse: 11, 12, 9, 8, 10, 7, 11, 10

No Abuse: 9, 7, 8, 6, 5, 7, 9, 8

Answer the following questions using the data from the table above.

a. What is the independent variable and levels for the study conducted?

b. What is the dependent variable and scale of measurement (i.e., NOIR)?

c. What is the null hypothesis for the study conducted?

d. Conduct a test of the null hypothesis using a single-factor ANOVA (p = .05). Be sure to properly write your statistical conclusion – “Since F ( , ) = ___, p <> .05….”

e. Provide an interpretation of your statistical conclusion from part D. Include the variables from the description above.

f. Assume the researcher has no planned comparisons before analyzing the data and is going to look at all possible comparisons after performing the initial ANOVA test. Use the Scheffe Test to maintain the p – value at .05. Carry out a comparison between the Verbal+Physical Abuse group and the No Abuse group. Be sure to properly state your statistical conclusion for this comparison.

g. Provide an interpretation of your statistical conclusion from part F. Include the variables from the description above.

Answer 1