Clinicians at a nursing home facility want to see if giving residents a plant to tend to will help lower depression. To test this idea, the residents are randomly assigned to one of three groups: Those assigned to Group 1 will serve as the control group and will not be given a plant. Members of Group 2 will be given a small bamboo plant along with a card detailing care instructions. Members of Group 3 will be given a small cactus along with a card detailing care instructions. After 90 days, all participants will complete the Acme Depression Scale, which renders a score between 1 and 100 (1 = Low depression . . . 100 = High depression). Daily antidepressant medication dosages will also be recorded (as the covariate).
Data set: Ch 06 – Exercise 02A.sav
Codebook
Variable: Group
Definition: Group number
Type: Categorical (1 = No plant, 2 = Bamboo, 3 = Cactus)

Variable: Depress
Definition: Acme Depression Scale
Type: Continuous (1 = Low depression . . . 100 = High depression)
Variable: Antidepressant_Rx
Definition: Antidepressant medication take per day (in milligrams)
Type: Continuous
a. Write the hypotheses.
b. Run each criterion of the pretest checklist (homogeneity of regression slopes, homogeneity of variance [Levene’s test]) and discuss your findings.
c. Run the ANCOVA test and document your findings (ns, means, and Sig. [p value], hypotheses resolution).
d. Write an abstract under 200 words detailing a summary of the study, the ANCOVA test results, hypothesis resolution, and implications of your findings.