Collecting data from a large number of participants can be a very daunting task
Collecting data from a large number of participants can be a very daunting task. How do researchers make sense of all of that information and summarize it to be more meaningful? One way is by creating frequency distributions, or by visually organizing the number of times each score in a data set occurs. Researchers present the frequency distribution in a table as a way to organize large amounts of data. You will also see frequency distributions displayed graphically, using histograms, bar graphs, or frequency polygons.
This Application will allow you to practice organizing a data set by calculating and describing the frequency, relative frequency, and percent of the number of snacks 30 people eat in a week.
You will also be asked to document that you have installed and tested the SPSS software that you will begin using in Week 2. Be sure to watch this week’s instructional videos in the Resources Folder before beginning your Application Assignment.
Assignment 1 Part I: Download the data table template found in this week’s Learning Resources folder and the data set that you will use for this Assignment from the Weekly Data Set forum found on the course navigation menu. Fill in the cells of the table by listing the frequency of each value from the data set, the relative frequency of each value, and the percent of each value. Your computed relative frequency and percent might not equal exactly 1.0 and 100%, respectively, due to rounding error. Then respond to the following:
- Explain how you computed the “Frequency of Value” column.
- Explain how you computed the “Relative Frequency of Value” column.
- Explain how you computed the “Percent of Value” column.
- What is the combined relative frequency of the odd-numbered values? Explain what the combined relative frequency you computed tells you about the number of snacks this sample eats in a week.
- What is the cumulative frequency of values falling at or below 5? Explain what the cumulative frequency you computed tells you about the number of snacks this sample eats in a week.
Weekly Data Post
Number of Snacks Eaten This Week
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