Assignment

#2
Group with: Cindy
Kluz, Shannon Meier
and me
Sara Kornoski

Assignment #2

Pearson r (Correlation)
The research question for the Pearson r (correlation) test is what is the relationship
between how often a person prays and their general happiness. The variable for general
happiness and how often a person prays is both ordinal variables. The independent variable is
how often a person prays, and the dependent variable is general happiness. The null hypothesis is
there is no relationship between how often a person prays and their general happiness. The
alternative hypothesis is that there is a relationship between how often a person prays and their
general happiness. For the variable of general happiness the sample size is three thousand five
hundred and thirteen people. It has positive mean of 1.85, this means that on average people
were pretty happy. The standard deviation is .647, which is low and indicates that the data points
are very close to the mean. It is within the normal range of kurtosis at .659, it has unremarkable
negative kurtosis. The skewness is also within the normal range at .150, it has unremarkable
positive skewness. There are zero outliers. The histogram is normally distributed. For the
variable of how often a person prays the sample size is also three thousand five hundred and
thirteen people which is the same amount for the variable general happiness. It has a mean of
positive mean of 2.74 which means that on average people prayed several times a week and more
than once a week. The standard deviation is 1.717 which is high and indicates that the data points
are spread and not close to the mean. It is within the normal range of kurtosis at -.871 and has an
unremarkable negative kurtosis. It is within normal range of skewness of .718. It has
unremarkable positive skewness. The histogram has positive skewness but the skewness is
unremarkable. There are zero outliers. Neither one of the variables were a candidate for
transformation. The transformation (extra credit) of square root transformation was done even
though a transformation was not needed. The transformation was on the variable how often a

Assignment #2

person prays because it has a less normal skewness and kurtosis result than the variable general
happiness. The square root transformation test changed the skewness to .511 and changed the
kurtosis to -1.088. The transformation made the kurtosis greater and the skewness lower, but s
expected the statistical significance stayed great.
Descriptive Statistics Table

Percent

Percent

Percent

GENERAL HAPPINESS

3513

98.7%

46

1.3%

3559

100.0%

HOW OFTEN DOES R PRAY

3513

98.7%

46

1.3%

3559

100.0%

Interval Level Descriptives

N

Mean

Standard

Skewness

Kurtosis

Deviation
General

3513

1.85

.647

1.50

-.659

3513

2.74

1.717

.718

-.871

Happiness
How Often
Person Prays
Square root transformations

Valid

Zscore:

Zscore: HOW

GENERAL

OFTEN DOES

HAPPINESS

R PRAY

3540

3529

19

30

N
Missing

Zscore: GENERAL HAPPINESS

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative
Percent

Valid

-1.31591

1043

29.3

29.5

29.5

.23016

1981

55.7

56.0

85.4

1.77623

516

14.5

14.6

100.0

Assignment #2

Total
Missing

3540

99.5

19

.5

3559

100.0

System

Total

100.0

Zscore: HOW OFTEN DOES R PRAY

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative
Percent

Valid

-1.01579

1039

29.2

29.4

29.4

-.43414

1056

29.7

29.9

59.4

.14751

404

11.4

11.4

70.8

.72917

214

6.0

6.1

76.9

1.31082

423

11.9

12.0

88.9

1.89247

393

11.0

11.1

100.0

3529

99.2

100.0

30

.8

3559

100.0

Total
Missing

System

Total

Correlations

Pearson Correlation
Zscore: GENERAL HAPPINESS

Zscore: HOW

GENERAL

OFTEN DOES

HAPPINESS

R PRAY
1

Sig. (2-tailed)
N
Pearson Correlation

Zscore: HOW OFTEN DOES R PRAY

Zscore:

.074

**

.000
3540

3513

**

.074

Sig. (2-tailed)

.000

3513

3529

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Chi Square
The research question for the chi square test is, is there an association between religious
preference and trust in people. The variables religious preference and trust in people are both

Assignment #2

nominal. The independent variable is religious preference and the dependent variable is trust in
people. The null hypothesis is there is not an association between religious preference and trust
in people. The alternative hypothesis is there is an association between religious preference and
trust in people. This test was run to assess the relationship between religious preference and
whether or not it has an effect on people trust. The variable trust in people has the categories for
the variable trust in people is from zero to nine, o=IAP, 1=can trust, 2=cannot trust, 3= dont
know, 4=not assigned. It has a sample size of two thousand three hundred and eighty six people
out of a population size of three thousand five hundred and fifty nine. It has a percentage of sixty
seven who responded to this question. Out of the two thousand three hundred and eighty six
people who responded to this question eight hundred and fourteen people with the percentage of
34.1 indicated that that they can trust people, and one thousand four hundred and fifty nine with
the percentage of 61.1 people indicated that they cannot trust people, and one hundred and
thirteen with the percentage of forty seven of people indicated that their trust in people depends.
The rest of this tests data is missing. The variable religious preference has a sample size of three
thousand five hundred and forty eight out of the population size of three thousand five hundred
and fifty nine who answered this question which is 99.7 percent of people. The categories for this
variable are; 0=IAP, 1=Protestant, 2=Catholic, 3=Jewish, 4=None, 5=other (specify),
6=Buddhism, 7=Hinduism, 8=Other Eastern, 9=Muslim/Islam, 10=Orthodox-Christianity,
11=Christianity, 12=Native American, 13=Inter-Nondenominational, 98=Dont Know, 99=Not
Assigned. Out of the three thousand five hundred and forty eight of people a total number of one
thousand eight hundred and twenty with percentage of 51.3 identified themselves as protestant; a
total number of eight hundred and forty one with a percentage of 23.7 people identified
themselves as catholic, a number of sixty two with a percentage of 1.7 identified themselves as

Assignment #2

Jewish, a number of five hundred and eighty two with a percentage of 16.4 identified as having
no religious preference, a total number of twenty four with a percentage of 7 identified as having
a religious preference of other which means that their religious preference was no on the survey
answers, a total number of thirty two with a percentage of 9 identified themselves as Buddhism,
a total number of fifteen with a percentage of four identified themselves as Hinduism, a total
number of five with a percentage of one identified themselves as other eastern, a total number of
twenty seven with a percentage of eight identified themselves as Muslim/Islam, a total number of
sixteen with a percentage of five identified themselves as Orthodox-Christianity, a total number
of one hundred and nine with a percentage of 3.1 identified themselves as Christianity, a total
number of one with a percentage of .0 identified themselves as native American, and lastly a
total number of fourteen with a percentage of .4 identified themselves as being interdenominational. The rest of the data information is missing because out of the three thousand
five hundred and fifty nine a total number of people who filed out the General Social Survey of
2008 not every person completed this question, only three thousand five hundred and forty eight
people filled this question out, which means that eleven people didnt answer this question and
this is why some data is missing. There is a significant relationship between religious preference
and trust in people. The alternative hypothesis is supported since religious preference is not
independent of whether or not people can trust people. The statistical results for the chi square
test is 42.63, the degree of freedom is twenty four which are free to vary, and the p value is
<.011. The percentages for the religious preference of people that can trust are Hinduism with a
percentage of 77.8, Orthodox Christian with a percentage of 54.5, and Native American with a
percentage of 100, the percentage for religious preference of people that cannot trust are
Protestant with a percentage of 62.7, Catholic with a percentage of 60., Jewish with a percentage

Assignment #2

of 53.7, people with no religious preference has a percentage of 59, people with a religious
preference of other has a percentage of 80, Buddhism with a percentage of 55.6, Muslim/Islam
with a percentage of 62.5, Christian with a percentage of 62.5, and Interdenominational had a
percentage of 63.6.
For the extra credit for the chi square test the variables are religious preference, trust in
people, and religion raised in. The variables are all nominal. From the previous test that was
done we know that religious preference and trusts in people are related, but if we add religion
raised in will there be a correlation and statistical significance. The correlation between the three
variables is .010 which is very close to zero and the statistical significance is .620 which is much
bigger than .05.

Descriptive Statistics Table

RS RELIGIOUS

CAN PEOPLE

PREFERENCE

BE TRUSTED

Valid

3548

2386

11

1173

N
Missing

RS RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE
Frequency
PROTESTANT

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

1820

51.1

51.3

51.3

841

23.6

23.7

75.0

JEWISH

62

1.7

1.7

76.7

NONE

582

16.4

16.4

93.2

OTHER (SPECIFY)

24

.7

.7

93.8

BUDDHISM

32

.9

.9

94.7

HINDUISM

15

.4

.4

95.2

OTHER EASTERN

.1

.1

95.3

MOSLEM/ISLAM

27

.8

.8

96.1

ORTHODOX-CHRISTIAN

16

.4

.5

96.5

109

3.1

3.1

99.6

CATHOLIC

Valid

Percent

CHRISTIAN

Assignment #2

NATIVE AMERICAN

.0

.0

99.6

14

.4

.4

100.0

3548

99.7

100.0

DK

.1

NA

.3

11

.3

3559

100.0

INTER-NONDENOMINATIONAL
Total

Missing

Total
Total

CAN PEOPLE BE TRUSTED

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative
Percent

CAN TRUST

814

22.9

34.1

34.1

1459

41.0

61.1

95.3

113

3.2

4.7

100.0

Total

2386

67.0

100.0

IAP

1169

32.8

DK

.1

NA

.0

1173

33.0

3559

100.0

CANNOT TRUST
Valid
DEPENDS

Missing

Total
Total

Chi-Square Tests
Value

df

Asymp. Sig. (2sided)

24

.011

33.959

24

.085

Linear-by-Linear Association

.010

.919

N of Valid Cases

2378

Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio

42.627

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative
Percent

PROTESTANT

1820

51.1

51.3

51.3

841

23.6

23.7

75.0

62

1.7

1.7

76.7

582

16.4

16.4

93.2

OTHER (SPECIFY)

24

.7

.7

93.8

BUDDHISM

32

.9

.9

94.7

CATHOLIC
JEWISH
Valid
NONE

Assignment #2

HINDUISM

15

.4

.4

95.2

.1

.1

95.3

MOSLEM/ISLAM

27

.8

.8

96.1

ORTHODOX-CHRISTIAN

16

.4

.5

96.5

109

3.1

3.1

99.6

.0

.0

99.6

14

.4

.4

100.0

3548

99.7

100.0

DK

.1

NA

.3

11

.3

3559

100.0

OTHER EASTERN

CHRISTIAN
NATIVE AMERICAN
INTER-NONDENOMINATIONAL
Total

Missing

Total
Total

CAN PEOPLE BE TRUSTED

Freque Perce
ncy
CAN

nt

Valid

Cumulativ

Percent

e Percent

814

22.9

34.1

34.1

1459

41.0

61.1

95.3

113

3.2

4.7

100.0

Total

2386

67.0

100.0

IAP

1169

32.8

Missi

DK

.1

ng

NA

.0

1173

33.0

3559

100.0

TRUST
CANNOT
Valid

TRUST
DEPENDS

Total
Total

Descriptive Statistics
Mean

Std. Deviation

RS RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE

2.31

2.238

2366

CAN PEOPLE BE TRUSTED

1.70

.550

2366

RELIGION IN WHICH RAISED

1.89

1.683

2366

Assignment #2

Test of Homogeneity of Variances

GENERAL HAPPINESS
Levene Statistic
3.943

df1

df2
11

3518

Sig.
.000

T test/ANOVA
The research question for the T test/ANOVA tests is what is the relationship between
religious preference and general happiness. The variables are religious preference, and general
happiness. The independent variable is religious preference and the dependent variable is general
happiness. The variable religious preference is nominal and has 12 categories and the variable
general happiness is ordinal. The null hypothesis is there is not a relationship between religious
preference and general happiness. The alternative hypothesis is there is a relationship between
religious preference and general happiness. The homogeneity of variance test showed a high
statistical significance between religious preference and general happiness at .000. The ANOVA
test showed a statistical significance of .190 in general happiness between groups. The Post hoc
test could not be performed so another ANOVA test of the variables religious preference and
general happiness was done. The variable religious preference is nominal and the variable life
exciting or dull is ordinal. The categories for the variable life exciting or dull is 0=IAP,
1=Exciting, 2= Routine, 3=Dull, 8= Dont Know, 9= Not assigned. No tests and results showed
any statistical significance between the variables of religious preference ad whether people felt
their lives were exciting or dull. The Levenes Test for Homogeneity of Variance test statistics
are 1.509, and the degree of freedom is eleven, and a degree of freedom of 2,374 and

Assignment #2

significance of .121. This test had no significance. The ANOVA test showed a statistical
significance of .092, variance of the group means / mean of the within group variances is 1.60,
and the degree of freedom is 11. The Welch Test gave the following results; statistic was 1.21,
and the degree of freedom of 11 and 1.651, the p value of .304. The Post Hoc Test for each of
the categories showed statistical significance higher than .05 for every category.

Test of Homogeneity of Variances

IS LIFE EXCITING OR DULL
Levene Statistic

df1

1.509

df2
11

Sig.

2374

.121

ANOVA
IS LIFE EXCITING OR DULL
Sum of

df

Squares
Between

Mean

Sig.

Square

6.632

11

.603

894.578

2374

.377

901.210

2385

1.600

.092

Groups
Within
Groups
Total

Implications
The results of my analyses would have implications for social work practice or social
welfare policy by knowing more information about the clients to be more effective and helpful to
them. For some people their religion plays a big part in their lives so it would be beneficial to
know their religious preference and how that could affect their trust in people as well as if people
pray how often and how it would affect their general happiness. In future research the
information from this study would be helpful to study different places with more cultural diverse
people to see if the findings would be different or the same as what I gathered.

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