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Health Statistics

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Health Statistics

Part 1

  1. A researcher studying lifespan categorizes individuals into single, married, divorced, or widowed. What type of variable measurement is this?

Nominal

  1. A cognitive scientist places her subjects into categories based on how anxious they tell her that they are feeling: “not anxious,” “mildly anxious,” “moderately anxious,” and “severely anxious,” and she uses the numbers 0, 1, 2 and 3 to label categories where lower numbers indicate less anxiety. What type of variable measurement is this? Are the categories mutually exclusive?

Ordinal scale. The categories are not mutually exclusive.

  1. A Physician diagnoses the presence or absence of disease (i.e., yes or no). What type of variable measurement is this?

Nominal scale

  1. A person weighing 200 lbs. is considered to be twice as heavy as a person weighing 100 lbs. In this case, what type of measurement is body weight?

Ratio scale

  1. A nurse takes measurements of body temperature on patients and reports them in units of degrees Fahrenheit as part of a study. What type of variable measurement is this?

Interval scale

  1. Patients rate their experience in the emergency room on a five point scale from poor to excellent ( 1 = very poor, 2 = not very good, 3 = neither good nor bad, 4 = quite good, and 5 = excellent). What type of variable measurement is this? Is the difference between a 1 and a 2 necessarily the same as the difference between a 3 and a 4? Explain briefly

Ordinal scale. The difference between the adjacent ordinal measures is not necessarily the same. Individual scores assigned to responses to the question have specific meanings. We cannot assume that the difference between 1 = very poor and 2 = not very good is the same as the intervals between the 4 = quite good and 5 = excellent in the five-point scale (Cook, 2004).

Part 2: Statistics

To identify patterns in the data collected, we have to know if there is a link between the two variables or whether certain groups are likely to show certain attributes. The independent variable is anxiety. The dependent variable is well-being. Data is self-expressed anxiety on a scale of 0 to 3. Summary data for each group is produced, i.e., mean and standard deviation. A standard distribution, such as a t-distribution, is the most common source of reference distribution. The standard deviation of the t-distribution is estimated from the sample. A reference distribution is used to decide whether there is a difference between the two groups. This test can determine if the average mean of the two groups are statistically significantly different.

To know if there is a link between two variables, we predict the responses to one variable by the response to the other. If the score for one variable does not predict the score for the other, then there is no association between the two variables.

Part 3: Quantitative vs. Qualitative Data

Coping can be defined as the strategies followed by people to challenge and overcome the negative experiences they encounter (Carter, 2017).

In the quantitative phase of measurement, a convenience sample of patients who (1) have been diagnosed with PTSD, (2) are aware of their diagnosis, (3) have the ability to understand and answer questions are approached. A questionnaire for demographic data is handed over to be filled by the participants. Some of the data included in the questionnaire are age, marital status, gender, type of religion, and the number of family members. The Jalowiec Coping Scale (JCS), which is a 60-item self-report instrument, is used (Saffari et al., 2017). A four-point (0-3) Likert scale is used to rate the degree of the use and effectiveness of coping strategies. The higher scores indicate a higher level of coping, more use of coping styles, and an increase in the effectiveness of these strategies. In addition to time since diagnosis, data on treatment modalities for the condition is also collected.

In the qualitative phase, an attempt is made to gain an in-depth and detailed understanding of the coping strategies. Participants are chosen for this phase based on their coping scores in the quantitative phase. Semi-structured interviews are conducted. The interview guide consists of broad, open-ended questions. Some of the topics touched on are (1) identification of traumatic experiences, (2) sources of psychosocial support, and (3) methods of coping. The aim is to explore participants’ general feelings during times of stress or crisis and how they cope with the stressors. Factors that influence the participant’s attitudes towards undesirable situations are uncovered. Behavioral and proactive coping strategies are among the coping strategies focused on. Participants also complete a survey, including the Harvard trauma questionnaire.

References

Carter I. Human Behavior in the Social Environment: A Social Systems Approach. 6th edition. New York, Routledge: 2017

Cook, A., Netuveli, G., & Sheikh, A. (2004). Basic Skills in Statistics: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals. London, GBR: Class Publishing. eISBN: 9781859591291. Available in Ebrary, accessed via Trident’s online library

Norman, G., and Streiner, D. (2008). Chapter The First: The Basics. (pages 2-6). Biostatistics The Bare Essentials. 3rd Edition. BC Decker Inc. PMPH USA, Ltd. Shelton, CT. eISBN: 9781607950585 pISBN: 9781550093476. Available in Ebrary, accessed via Trident’s online library

Saffari M, Sanaeinasab H, Hashempour M, Pakpour AH, Lovera JF, Al Shohaib S, et al. Cultural adaptation, validity, and factor structure of the Jalowiec coping scale in Iranian women with multiple sclerosis: Which coping strategies are most common and effective? Int J MS Care. 2017;19:209–16.

Turner-Cobb, J., & Hawken, T. (2019). Stress and Coping Assessment. In C. Llewellyn, S. Ayers, C. McManus, S. Newman, K. Petrie, T. Revenson, et al. (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, pp. 229-236). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Question 

Health Statistics

Part I (approximately 1–1½ pages, total):

Copy and paste the following examples (1-6 below), then respond by classifying each of the following variables as either: nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio. Provide a brief explanation where indicated.

  1. A researcher studying lifespan categorizes individuals into single, married, divorced, or widowed. What type of variable measurement is this?
  2. A cognitive scientist places her subjects into categories based on how anxious they tell her that they are feeling: “not anxious,” “mildly anxious,” “moderately anxious,” and “severely anxious,” and she uses the numbers 0, 1, 2 and 3 to label categories where lower numbers indicate less anxiety. What type of variable measurement is this? Are the categories mutually exclusive?
  3. A Physician diagnoses the presence or absence of disease (i.e., yes or no). What type of variable measurement is this?

    Health Statistics

  4. A person weighing 200 lbs. is considered to be twice as heavy as a person weighing 100 lbs. In this case, what type of measurement is body weight?
  5. A nurse takes measurements of body temperature on patients and reports them in units of degrees Farenheit as part of a study. What type of variable measurement is this?
  6. Patients rate their experience in the emergency room on a five point scale from poor to excellent ( 1 = very poor, 2 = not very good, 3 = neither good nor bad, 4 = quite good, and 5 = excellent). What type of variable measurement is this? Is the difference between a 1 and a 2 necessarily the same as the difference between a 3 and a 4? Explain briefly.

Part 2: Statistics (0.5 page)

Part 3: Quantitative vs. Qualitative Data (approximately 1–1.5 pages)

Use the information in the modular background readings as well as resources you find through ProQuest or other online sources. Please be sure to cite all sources and provide a reference list at the end of the paper. Submit the paper as a Word document through the link provided for the assignment.

Length: 2–3 pages typed and double-spaced.

References

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