Questions and Answers of Statistics For The Behavioral Sciences

The head of economic development for Nutria Haven, Louisiana, has been criticized by the mayor for doing too little to stimulate business activity. The mayor claims that fluctuations in the number of
The head of philanthropy at the Shady Hills, Michigan, Institute of Fine Arts has asked her assistant to come up with some statistical evidence on the causes of variation in member renewal rates
John Palmer, head of the Shoreland City Clerk’s Office, has been instructed by his supervisors to send his staff to a productivity enhancing workshop. Mr. Palmer decides to conduct an analysis of
Florida has adopted a new sentencing law to increase the penalties for drugrelated crimes. The state legislative research bureau is interested in knowing whether courts are upholding this law. The
The finance director for North Dakota has established a toll-free tax assistance helpline in response to the large number of complaints citizens have made about the complexity of the state’s income
Tex Anderson has just been appointed director of the Roads Department in Gak, Texas. He knows that the last director was “urged to explore other career opportunities” due to performance problems
The chief of fiscal services for Piney Hills, North Carolina, has data on unreserved fund balances from 2006 through 2011. Unreserved fund balances are a key measure of financial performance because
Lisa Parsons, executive director of the Ferndale Community Wellness Center (FCWC), is concerned about recent route cuts made by the Ferndale Transit Authority (FTA). Many of her clients do not own
The beleaguered mayor of Dorchester, Michigan, whom you met earlier in the chapter, has now received complaints about the city’s “outrageously high” levels of general obligation debt (debt
The department of social services is considering three vocational programs to train people with disabilities: a contract for teaching the unskilled labor skills, provided by a private vendor (program
What are some ways a police department could assess progress toward important goals through the use of performance measures? Specifically, come up with performance measures for the following
John Patrick Vannelli, the mayor of Snowy Bluff s, Florida, is concerned about the number of complaints his office has received concerning service at the public library. Most of the complaints center
Ray Wiley decides that he wants to live a life of crime because it is the only way he can support himself in the style to which he has become accustomed. Ray finds the figures shown in the
A major foundation has asked the Woodbridge Domestic Abuse Shelter to send a summary report on how the foundation’s grant money is being spent. This report will be used to evaluate a pending grant
Stanley E. Konomist, the chief financial officer for Breverham State University (BSU), must decide how to invest this year’s private contributions. Stanley has four options. He can invest in
The data analyst from Problem 16.7 also obtained information regarding whether the employee was on a standard 8-hour shift or on flextime. The cross-tabulation between these two variables appears
The personnel department of a small city has compiled the accompanying data regarding city employees. The data consist of the age of employees and the probability of their receiving a job promotion.
The mission statement of the Teen Crisis Center reads:The mission of the Teen Crisis Center is to assist troubled youth through counseling and educational programs designed to make positive changes
Paul Sabatier, a human relations theorist working for Warm and Fuzzy, Inc., believes that workers who work in cooperatives are more satisfied than workers who do not. He surveys 50 cab drivers who
A. Rookie, an assistant professor of human relations at the Jackson School of Public Affairs, wants to teach his class the value of cooperation. He divides the class into three teams. Each team must
Devise a hypothesis of interest to you. Using percentages, construct cross- tabulations that show (a) perfect support for the hypothesis and (b) no support for the hypothesis. Construct three
A national commission has been appointed to try to reduce crime in the United States. The commission has assembled data for 400 randomly selected cities. These data include whether police walk or do
Dan Storch, a researcher at the Illinois Association of School Boards, wants to learn more about why some school bond referenda pass whereas others fail. Specifi cally, Mr. Storch believes that
The New Horizons Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center has begun to collect data on client satisfaction. In addition to offering individual counseling, the center has optional group-activities programs for
Linda Dawkins, city manager of Pig Mountain, Connecticut, has instituted a public shaming campaign in hopes of getting delinquent taxpayers to pay their outstanding property tax bills. Ninety days
A local Milwaukee research organization is conducting a study on the charitable activities of residents in the Southeastern part of the state. For this purpose the research organization administered
Tara Young, professor of management at Big State University, is interested in whether organizational size has an effect on leadership in nonprofit organizations. Specifi cally, organizations located
The board of directors of the Westville Community Center is interested in obtaining feedback from its donor base about various programmatic initiatives the center is contemplating. The board has
A researcher is interested in how agency and bureau directors can achieve stronger control over their organizations. Using data from 500 of these organizations, she finds a relationship between type
Caretakers, a local nonprofit organization, operates the concession stands for the Newland Baseball Park, home of the Newland Nuggets (a minor league baseball team). Doing so permits Caretakers to
Ridership on the North Salem Independent Transit System is increasing. The city’s program evaluation office feels that the increase in the number of riders every day is due to the price of
Stanley Student is an MPA candidate at Big State University (BSU). Stanley is concerned about his performance in BSU’s quantitative methods class. The class has consisted of five quizzes and one
Presidential candidate Rebecca Hendrick wants to know whether it would be worthwhile to challenge the incumbent next year. If she decides to run, she feels the key issue should be inflation, so she
Over the past year, the Wisconsin Regional Sewage District (WRSD) has received considerable negative attention over incidents in which untreated sewage has been released into Lake Michigan. Th e
Several years ago, officials at the Texas Department of Fish and Game implemented an aggressive advertising campaign with the goal of getting more hunters interested in hunting feral hogs. Officials
The Normal police chief wants to know whether police car cruising has any impact on crime rates. Of the city’s 10 precincts, 5 are cruised regularly, and the other 5 are never cruised (police do
In an effort to combat gun-related crimes, the city of Vancouver, Georgia, has initiated a guns-for-cash program in which citizens can turn in guns and receive cash in return (no questions asked).
Graph each set of data shown in the accompanying table. Determine whether the relationships are linear or nonlinear. If nonlinear, state what type of relationship it is. X 2 25 No.
Sue Borch, director of the Fowlerville, Maine, Center for Adult Recreational Activities, has long wondered whether there is a relationship between the number of complaints the center receives from
Ms. Patricia Waldo, city manager of Big Cat, Texas, believes that she has discovered an effective strategy to combat the problem of loitering. Ms. Waldo believes that loitering will decrease
Organizational theorist Ken Brier has obtained data on the composition of nonprofit boards of directors in the metro Chicago area. Professor Brier hypothesizes that the higher the percentage of major
Deborah Long, director of the Southeastern Wisconsin Nonprofits Coalition, is interested in why some nonprofits in the region collaborate more than others. Ms. Long believes that collaboration is
I. L. Iterate High School is the only high school in Milward, Iowa. The superintendent hires you to forecast future school enrollments so that the school can plan ahead. Using the accompanying data,
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to compare average per capita health care costs for four cities that have health maintenance organizations (HMOs) with four similar cities that
The Department of Labor’s division of workers’ compensation programs believes that it is unfair to charge that rising medical costs for workers’ compensation programs are the result of program
Refer to Problem 19.8. Intercity buses travel 8,200 miles a week. Current miles per gallon for buses is 5.1. Provide an estimate of the amount of money that could be saved in a week (with a 55-mph
The Fifth Division of the U.S. Army wants to forecast personnel costs for the next 5 years. A search of the records reveals the accompanying data. Using these data, forecast personnel costs for 2012,
The Forest Service believes that it can predict the number of forest fires per month in a forest, knowing the amount of rainfall that fell the previous month (X1) and the average daily temperature
The president needs to predict future expenditures on Medicaid. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) analyst Alex Pacek undertakes the task. With Medicaid expenditures expressed in millions of 1967
Expenditures for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in millions of 1984 dollars are regressed on time (year 1 = 1984):Interpret this regression. Predict 2012 expenditures, and calculate
The Missouri Department of Education has hired a program evaluation team to investigate why the average reading scores for all seniors vary from 9.4 to 13.1 for different high schools (N = 326). The
Several states have argued that the 65-mph speed limit has no justification and have refused to enforce it. The federal Department of Transportation (DOT) believes that the 65-mph limit saves lives.
New Mexico is concerned about rising costs of health care for employees. Ten years ago, it shifted all employees to HMOs. Now it would like to evaluate the impact of the HMOs on the cost of health
The U.S. Department of Human Services research team has submitted a report to you on the infant mortality rate. The team uses a regression equation in which infant mortality (the number of infants
The Department of Economic Development in Grundy County wants to evaluate the economic development program that it started in 1993. Its measure of success is the total number of persons employed in
The city of Madison, Wisconsin, needs to squeeze a bit more tax revenue out of its citizens. The city decides to charge $200 for each ambulance call. It knows that health and automobile insurance
Marv Johnson, city manager of Filkburg, Virginia, wants to develop a better understanding of the factors that influence vehicle maintenance and costs. Mr. Johnson has data on 100 vehicles in the
Sheriff S. Norton Koch wants to know if the number of drug arrests in Weed County has increased since the 1990 passage of a tough new state law on drug possession. His dependent variable is the
Stephanie Albini, chief risk manager of Action Park, Illinois, has collected data on the number of accidents occurring on city property over the last 72 months. The mayor of Action Park thinks
Officials in the Michigan Department of Education want to determine why student performance varies across school districts in the state. Department officials ask their chief statistician to run a
Jack “Crash” Craddock, the chief analyst for the Federal Aviation Administration, wants to know whether airline deregulation had any impact on airline safety. As a measure of airline safety, he
Ms. Patricia Waldo, city manager of Big Cat, Texas (you met Ms. Waldo in Problem 18.22), is working on policy interventions designed to discourage loitering in her town. In her regression analysis,
Two colleagues in the economics department at Big State University are having a debate over the factors that influence per-capita charitable donation totals across the states (SDONATE, defined as
Roberta Refuse, the head sanitation engineer for the metropolis of Cramer, would like to assess the impact of a statewide recycling law on trash collection in Cramer. The law prohibits the disposal
The Shorewood Community Center runs a substance abuse counseling program. Over the course of the 8-week program, clients are expected to attend three counseling sessions per week. Because attendance
The leaders of a community health clinic want to evaluate the impact of a weight loss program for clients initiated a year ago. Th e program consisted of weekly low-impact group exercise sessions
The infant mortality rate is considered a good indicator of overall health care in a country. Th e following regression uses the infant mortality rate in the United States from 1951 to 1989 (number
The collective bargaining agreement between Family Services Agency and the Federation of Social Workers specifies that the average case load for caseworkers cannot exceed 45. Using the accompanying
David Morgan, the city manager of Yukon, Oklahoma, must negotiate new contracts with both the firefighters and the police officers. He plans to off er both groups a 7% wage increase and hold firm.
The Chesterville, Montana, city council has criticized the city’s Information Technology (IT) Division for creating a very user-unfriendly city Website. As proof, the council points out that the
The Egyptian Air Force brass believe that overweight pilots have slow reaction times. They attribute the poor performance of their air force in recent war games in the Sinai to overweight pilots. The
The Lebanon postmaster suspects that working on ziptronic machines is the cause of high absenteeism. More than 10 absences from work without business-related reasons is considered excessive
The manager of the Houston Astros decides to see whether batting practice has any impact on the Astros’ hitting. Twenty Astros take batting practice; they are randomly selected. Ten Astros,
The federal government has asked officials in Milwaukee County to collect data on the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in Milwaukee. Federal officials are
The police chief wants to know whether the city’s African Americans feel that the police are doing a good job. In comparison to whites’ evaluations, this information will tell the police whether
A local foundation in Milwaukee has provided the Technical College of Milwaukee (TCM) with funding for a pilot program aimed at improving the academic performance of students who are single mothers.
Dr. Sheila Roberts, head of the Department of Public Administration at Eastern Seaboard State University, is concerned about whether student performance in online courses is worse than student
Dan Stout, a researcher at the Wisconsin Department of Public Health, has begun work on a study examining body mass index (BMI) values for Wisconsin residents. Mr. Stout is particularly interested
Two hundred people on the welfare rolls in Sunbelt County are randomly selected. One hundred are required to do public service work for the county; the other 100 continue as before. After 6 months,
VISTA manager William Phogbound suspects that 50% of his volunteers are over 65 years old. A survey of 16 volunteers reveals that 7 are over age 65. What can be said about Phogbound’s assertion?
After a massive inventory, Central Library finds 12% of its volumes missing. As a result, Central institutes new procedures to prevent theft. After instituting these procedures for 1 year, Central
If 33% of the members of the Sweetheart Union sign petitions to decertify the union, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will call an election to determine whether Sweetheart will remain the
The Northeast Foundation Association (NFA) is in the process of writing an informational bulletin on the advantages of Program Related Investments, or PRIs (typically defined as loans foundations
Sandy Parks, executive director of Be Kind Through In-Kind (BKTIK), is interested in using volunteers to perform some services normally handled by paid staff . Specifically, paid staff members are
The mayor of Belmont, Texas (population, 800,000), is concerned about levels of prostitution in the city. Over the past year, the police department arrested an average of 8.9 individuals per day for
The National Welfare Recipients Organization has charged that state caseworkers are inexperienced. The Kansas State Welfare Department surveys its employees and finds that they have an average of 3.4
It is contract negotiation time, and the Louisiana teachers union wants to argue that its salaries are the lowest in the region. Because the union has 20,000 members, it must rely on a survey. If the
The Metro City Rescue Mission (MCRM) depends heavily on food donations from individuals. Last year, food donations at the MCRM’s curbside collection program averaged 9.1 pounds per donation. The
In 2009, the average household income for micro-enterprise operators in Vermont was $36,752. Officials at the Vermont Foundation for Social Enterprise believe that household incomes among
Two years ago, the Harris County Nonprofit Council (HCNC) did a comprehensive study on the financial position of nonprofits in the Harris County area. The study revealed that budgetary operating
Answer the following questions by referring to the accompanying table, which lists the highway patrol’s reasons for stopping cars and the numbers of tickets issued. Assume that a car was
The director of the North Carolina Local Government Insurance Pool (NCLGIP) has implemented mandatory annual risk assessments for all members of the pool in hopes of reducing both the number of
The mayor of Chud, Wisconsin, has faced criticism over the number of water quality advisories issued last year for the city’s water supply. Specifically, Chud’s average water contaminant score
The National Council on Nonprofit Monitoring (NCNM) has issued guidelines stating that nonprofit organizations should spend at least 70% of all revenues collected from donations on direct program
The Indiana Superintendent of Public Education is concerned about whether the state’s schools will meet this year’s achievement targets for performance on standardized tests. Specifically, this
Janice Johnson, director of the Montana Bureau of Prisons, is concerned about the number of violent incidents among prisoners. Last year, the system averaged 1.5 violent incidents per day. In an
Last year, the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation was able to place people in jobs with an average salary of $30,600. This year, placement is handled by a private agency that charges $200 per
Last year, the average weight of babies born to clients of the Houston Women’s Health Clinic was 7.5 pounds. The clinic’s new director recently implemented an aggressive new educational program
The General Accounting Office is auditing Branfl ake International Airways, a company that flies numerous charters for the government. The contract with Branfl ake specifies that the average flight
The director of the Birkfield, California, Women’s Shelter is planning the budget for next year and wants to know whether it’s reasonable to assume an average stay of 21 days per client. The

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