Using one of the experimental studies that tested an intervention that you used previously in the course or a different study, complete these tasks and answer these questions:
- Provide the purpose/objective/aim of the study in the exact words used in the study.
- From the purpose/objective/aim of the study, identify:
- The population
- The intervention (independent variable)
- The outcome (dependent) variable
- What is the level of measurement of the DV (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio)? Provide the rationale based on the instrument used to measure the DV. What type of variable is the DV (categorical or continuous)?
- Write the null and alternative hypotheses in words and equation format for one of the inferential tests related to the purpose of the study.
- Give the values for the descriptive statistics for the outcome variable.
- What inferential test was used to test the effectiveness of the intervention? Give the rationale for this test based on the level of measurement of and the descriptive statistic reported for the outcome variable.
- What are the assumptions for this test (cite the source where you find them)? Are they met in this study? Provide information given in the study that can be used to determine whether each assumption is or is not met. What information is not given?
- Using the p-value rule, was the intervention effective based on statistical analysis? State the rule and the decision about the null hypothesis.
- Based on the decision related to the null hypothesis, what type of statistical error is possible? What are possible causes of this error? What did the researcher do to minimize the possible error?
- Identify at least two of the common statistical errors listed in Chapter 15 in the textbook to explain what the researcher could have done to avoid these mistakes and ensure the validity of the findings.
- Using the Balkin & Lenz (2021), Barria (2023) or Ranganathan et al. (2016) article plus your clinical knowledge of the intervention and outcome variables, critical thinking, and your experience with your patients and setting, do the results of this study have clinical significance? Is the difference in the value of the descriptive statistic large enough to predict that the benefit of adopting the intervention would justify the cost (not just money) and effort of implementing the intervention? Does the clinical significance of the results of this study match the statistical significance? Explain your answer.
