Data File 1 Statistics in Educational Research Essay

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Pages: 7

Date File 1

Chapter One

1) Determine whether the evaluated group is a population or a sample a) Based on a randomly selected group of 500 patients with high cholesterol, it was found that 67% have heart disease. Is this a population or a sample; explain your answer. Raw data is collected from a subset of patient with high cholesterol to determine numbers describing characteristics of the subset (Bennett, Briggis, & Triola, 2009). The raw data collected from the 500 patients is consolidated and summarized to form sample statistics. The raw data and sample statistics are indications that this is a sample (Bennett, Briggis, & Triola, 2009). b) An investigation of 150 randomly selected local restaurants
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Therefore the study is observing and furthermore, the observation would most likely review past data which would make this study a case-controlled observation (Bennett, Briggis, & Triola, 2009).

From Chapter One

1) Focus on Public Health—On page 44 of the text, it discusses the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, which is a very well-known study that has been conducted for a number of years. Answer discussion question two at the end of the article. Dr. Speizer devised the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study as a way to observe the long-term effects of oral contraceptives. This study was not designed to treat any potential problem, but to identify potential effects the long-term use of oral contraceptives may have on women. Although the study has expanded to include other things to identify potential effects on the human body, the study remains true to its intention of identifying certain challenges that could hinder a good health (Bennett, Briggis, & Triola, 2009).

It is possible to gather similar data by carrying out experiments in a practical and ethical way. However, the purpose for gathering the data is different for observation studies and experiments. Furthermore, the route to getting similar results by using experiments would probably be a more extensive process than using the observational study. The most effective and efficient way to obtain the data that probably would yield more