Purpose
My research question is: To evaluate the frequency, with which participants experience emotional problems and difficulties with over-demanding families.
I chose this topic because I am interested in investigating what part of society tends to experience problems with emotionality. It is also vital to reveal how many people consider that their family members demand to fulfill inadequate number of responsibilities to detect the general tendency and its consequences.
All About the GSS
- Who are the participants? Participants are random people who were not chosen on any attributes basis.
- What population does the sample represent? The sample represents the general population without any particular affiliation to a certain area of activity, social status, age, or ethnicity.
- How is the data collected? The data is collected by offering participants to fill the blank with two questions and calculating the number of answers of each type.
Variables
My IV: Provide information for the IV using the format below.
- IV Variable name in SPSS: Demands.
- IV Question (as asked to the respondent verbatim) R feels that family make too many demands on R.
- IV Answer categories: no, never; yes, but seldom; yes, sometimes; yes, often; yes, very often.
- IV Level of Measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval/ratio): Nominal.
My DV: Provide information for the DV using the format below.
- DV variable name in SPSS: Emoprobs.
- DV Question (as asked to the respondent verbatim) – how often R has been bothered by emotional problem in the past 7 days?
- DV Answer categories: never; rarely; sometimes; often; very often.
- DV Level of Measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval/ratio): Nominal.
Frequency Tables
The frequency table for the emotional problem survey shows that most answers were “never,” “rarely,” and “sometimes,” as they amounted to 727, 686, and 601, respectively. The number of the mentioned options together is 2014, among the 2329 choices in total. The valid percentages of the first three categories of answers are 31.2%, 29.5%, and 25.8%, respectively. The count and valid percentages reveal the general tendency not to have noticeable emotional problems or a small number of them.
The frequency table for the demands survey shows that most answers were “no, never” as it amounted to 696 among the 1169 choices in total. The valid percentage of this category of response is 59.5%. The count and valid percent reveal the general tendency not to feel an inadequate number of responsibilities, participants families demand them to fulfill.
Table 1. Response Frequency Table for Emotional Problem Survey.
Table 2. Response Frequency Table for Demands Survey.
Graphs and Charts
Visual representation assists in obtained data evaluating, as it facilitates the process of comparing different categories with each other, and noticing the visual difference between their values. The Figure 1 shows that the numbers of answers “never,” “rarely,” and “sometimes” are similar, as well as these categories bars on the chart. The numbers of answers for the mentioned choices are 727, 686, and 601, respectively, and their bars are located in the interval between numbers 600 and 800. It implies that people tend to experience a few emotional problems regularly.
The Figure 2 shows that the number of the answer “no, never” is different from other ones, as well as this category bar on the chart. The amount of answers for the mentioned choice is 696, and its bar is located above the 600, while other categories amounts are lower than 300. It implies that people tend not to experience a feeling of an inadequate number of responsibilities, participants families demand from them to fulfill.
Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
The measures of central tendency are tools for evaluating the surveys results. For nominal and ordinary variables, appropriate measures are frequencies and percentages, while the others have the complementary function. For interval and ration variables, appropriate measures are means and standard deviation, accompanied with median and mode. Statistics for emotional problem survey shows that mean is equal to 2.25, while median is 2.00.
It means that the summarized value of the experiments categories, divided by a number of answers in them, tends to the choice “rarely.” Median supports this conclusion, as it also shows the prevalence of the same category of responses. Mode is equal to 1, as the first option has the most votes, but as the first three surveys types of choices are similar, this rate compliments the other outcomes. Standard deviation and variance are 1.106 and 1.223, respectively, which indicates the large dispersion rate. The main conclusion from the investigated statistics is that
Statistics for demands survey shows that mean is equal to 1.69, while median is 1.00. It means that the summarized value of the experiments categories, divided by a number of answers in them, tend to the choice “no, never.” Median partially supports this conclusion, as it does not indicate the prevalence of a particular category. Mode is equal to 1, and for this survey, this rate is relevant as the first option is expressed the most. Standard deviation and variance are 0.994 and 0.989, respectively, which indicates the large dispersion rate.
Table 3. Statistics Table for Emotional Problem Survey.
Table 4. Statistics Table for Demands Survey.
Reference
Almquist, Y. B., Kvart, S., & Brännström, L. (2019). A practical guide to quantitative methods with SPSS. Department of Public Health Sciences. Web.