Quiz 11 Study Guide PDF

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Quiz 11 Study Guide. Given a set of questions to know and includes answers pulled from readings....

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Kayley Hannan 1. Using an explanation your Uncle Bob would understand, what is a metaanalysis and why is effect size an important statistic? (Note: You'll probably need two paragraphs to provide a good answer.) Meta analysis takes data collected from other studies and does and statistical analysis on the pools of data collected from various studies. The research combines the results from the various studies to create a conclusion that can be applied to a larger population. It is convenient because even if the studies have conflicting conclusions, their data is still useful in a meta analysis. The specific data that the researcher would collect from the studies is the effect size. Effect size is the difference between the mean of the experimental group and the mean of the control group. It is an important statistic because it tells us the magnitude and the direction of the difference between the two groups. In meta-analysis, the effect sizes from the varying studies would be combined into an average effects size, also known a common effect size. This common effect size is often more accurate to the overall population because it uses data collected from multiple studies, a larger sample size. It would be generalized to the larger population and allow for the researched to come to a conclusion about that population 2. Review/skim through the meta-analysis on spanking. What are your thoughts on the methodology and the findings? Do you find them credible? The study found that there were no benefits found to spanking a child. Instead many studies findngs pointed in the direction that spanking a child caused detrimental outcomes. I find the methodology and conclusions of this meta analysis credible. The meta-analysis draws from a large pool of studies with 111 effect sizes and a total sample size of 160,927 children. The authors were very selective in the studies that they did choose. The used various types of coding and selection processes to decide which studies to include. For example the authors only selected studies with direct connections between spanking and its effects. Additionally the authors of this meta-analysis each calculated the effect sizes from the different studies and would discuss discrepencies that appeared. Their processes lead me to believe that their findings will be correct. In their findings they discovered that out of the 111 studies, 102 of the effect sizes were in the direction of detrimental outcome, 78 of them statistically significant. Therefore, I trust their conclusion that, spanking is not beneficial and most likely detrimental to the children who experience it.

3. What do you think the average U.S. citizen would find more compelling to inform their behavior (i.e., what they should personally do): the findings of a carefully-conducted meta-analysis or their personal experience? What about you? (Use the spanking research as an example.) What are the pros and cons of each "way of knowing"? Which should win at the end of the day? I think the average american would find their experience more compelling to inform their behavior. In my decisions making, I will highly consider the findings of a meta-analysis and possibly believe they are true for a larger population. Yet, if I have contrasting experience, I may be more likely to find my experiences more compelling than the findings in the metaanalysis. While a meta-analysis allows for the findings and conclusions to be more accurate

and applicable to a larger population size, there is still room exceptions depending who you are and how you compare to the population being used in the meta-analysis. Pros of personal experience, is that it is unique to the individual at hand and can inform an individual if they happen to be an exception. Yet personal experience may be a one time fluke, exception or coincidence, where as the meta-analysis may show an overarching trend. Because it pools from such a large sample of data, it will be able to generalize the results quite accurately to the population. Additionally, meta-analysis can help inform you beliefs and decisions before you take action or make a change in life. It shows one the effects of a decision or action that many other people have experienced before one has decided or taken action. In contrast, one learns from personal experience after the fact. While there are some pros to personal experience, I think at the end of the day meta-analysis should be the most compelling influence in informing one’s decisions because it shows what is generally true. 4. Watch the 2 minute and 45 second video on the What Works Clearinghouse (a federally-funded organization that conducts meta-analyses on educational research). Do you think that this evidence-based approach to inform classroom practice through scientific research is worthwhile? What field/job are you interested in where a similar research-to-practice approach could be taken? Yes, I believe this evidence-based approach through scientific research is very much worth while. The What Works Clearinghouse produces meta-analysis surrounding research to be implemented in the classroom. Instead of using a single study, meta-analysis analysis data collected from multiple studies to form a conclusion. This larger sample pool allows them to draw a more accurate conclusion that can be generalized to a larger population. Therefore it is more likely their meta-analysis approach can be universally applicable to teachers and students across the country. Additionally when they are picking research topics to do a metaanalysis on, they target behavioral instructions that are practical and flexible to implement. WWC asks not only other researchers to review their research but also teachers to ensure that the research conclusions are realistic and attainable in classrooms. This type of behavioral research could be helpful across many fields. I hope to working in the business world someday. I could see this kind of research to be used to investigate how leaders or managers could act to improve performance and productivity of their workers. For example, google conducted a study on what qualities made work groups more cohesive and successful in order to inform them on how to form groups at the google. As more studies, similar to this one are conducted, a larger meta-analysis could then be done to apply these conclusions to more of the business world....