Dr. Zak Case Study

University of Phoenix Material

Dr. Zak Case Study

Instructions

READ THE FOLLOWING CASE STUDY. THEN, USE THE INFORMATION IN THE CASE STUDY TO ANSWER THE ACCOMPANYING FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS. ALTHOUGH QUESTIONS 1-2 HAVE SHORT ANSWERS, YOU SHOULD PREPARE A 150 TO 200-WORD RESPONSE TO EACH OF THE REMAINING QUESTIONS.

CASe Study

DR. ZAK DEVELOPED A TEST TO MEASURE DEPRESSION. HE SAMPLED 100 UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO TAKE HIS FIVE ITEM TEST.   THE GROUP OF STUDENTS WAS COMPRISED OF 30 MEN AND 70 WOMEN. IN THIS GROUP, FOUR PERSONS WERE AFRICAN AMERICAN, SIX PERSONS WERE HISPANIC, AND ONE PERSON WAS ASIAN. ZAK’S MIRACULOUS TEST OF DEPRESSION IS PRINTED BELOW:

1. I feel depressed: Yes     No

2. I have been sad for the last two weeks: Yes No

3. I have seen changes in my eating and sleeping: Yes No

4. I don’t feel that life is going to get better: Yes No

5. I feel happy most of the day: Yes No

Yes = 1; No = 0

The mean on this test is 3.5 with a standard deviation of .5.

Follow-Up Questions

SALLY SCORES 1.5 ON THIS TEST.   HOW MANY STANDARD DEVIATIONS IS SALLY FROM THE MEAN? (SHOW YOUR CALCULATIONS)
the mean = 3.5, Sally’s score = 1.5, SD = .5
1.5-3.5= -2
-2/.5= -4
Sally is -4 standard deviations away from the mean or 4 standard deviations below the mean.

1. Billy scores 5.   What is his standard score?
Z= (X-M)/SD
5-3.5=1.5
1.5/.5=3
Billy’s standard score is 3.

2. What scale of measurement is Dr. Zak using? Do you think Dr. Zak’s choice of scaling is appropriate?   Why or why not? What are your suggestions?
      Dr. Zak’s case study uses the ordinal scale of measurement. This scale is used to measure depression in his sampling of 30 men and 70 women.
      Dr. Zak’s choice of scaling is appropriate for this particular test. No test-taker is going to have the same amount of depression as another test-taker and levels of depression can fluctuate. This choice of scaling does affect what can be done with the data.... [continues]

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