For this final assignment, you will combine all of the knowledge you have gained throughout this course to complete the final course project/mock study. When you complete this assignment, you will hav
RES/710 v5
Course Project Worksheet – Mean, Median, and Mode
Complete Parts A and B below.
Part AUsing the three variables you chose in Week 1, complete the following for each of your variables:
Using Excel, calculate the mean, median, and mode for each variable.
Create APA formatted tables to represent the mean, median, and mode of each variable. Copy and paste each table below.
Explain/summarize the output for each variable.
Note: You might have to recode your variables prior to completing this assignment. See Calculating Mean, Median, and Mode in Excel for the step-by-step process.
Independent Variable 1Independent Variable 1 Name: Parental Involvement
Descriptive Statistics Table:
| Parental Involvement | |
| Mean | 3.46 |
| Standard Error | 0.151752 |
| Median | 4 |
| Mode | 4 |
| Standard Deviation | 1.073046 |
| Sample Variance | 1.151429 |
| Kurtosis | -0.06396 |
| Skewness | -0.51147 |
| Range | 4 |
| Minimum | 1 |
| Maximum | 5 |
| Sum | 173 |
| Count | 50 |
Summary and Description:
I wanted to find out how much parents helped their children get ready for kindergarten. The average score was 3.46, the middle score was 4, and 4 was the most common answer. This tells me that many parents were very involved, which is good. Only a few parents gave low scores. From what I’ve seen in my work, this makes sense. Most parents want to help their kids during significant changes like starting school. This agrees with Sands and Meadan (2023), who said that strong parental support helps children adjust better during early school transitions. Independent Variable 2Independent Variable 2 Name: School-Based Practices
Descriptive Statistics Table:
| School-Based Practices | |
| Mean | 3.5 |
| Standard Error | 0.157143 |
| Median | 4 |
| Mode | 4 |
| Standard Deviation | 1.111168 |
| Sample Variance | 1.234694 |
| Kurtosis | -0.60341 |
| Skewness | -0.37188 |
| Range | 4 |
| Minimum | 1 |
| Maximum | 5 |
| Sum | 175 |
| Count | 50 |
Summary and Description:
For this variable, the mean was 3.50, the median was 4.00, and the mode was 4. This means many parents felt the school gave good support during the transition to kindergarten. These numbers suggest schools are doing fairly well in helping families prepare, which matches findings from earlier studies on school readiness practices (Garber et al., 2022). Although a few families gave lower ratings, most seem to agree that their school provided helpful tools or programs. Dependent VariableDependent Variable Name: School Readiness
Descriptive Statistics Table:
| School Readiness | |
| Mean | 3.54 |
| Standard Error | 0.162154 |
| Median | 3 |
| Mode | 3 |
| Standard Deviation | 1.146601 |
| Sample Variance | 1.314694 |
| Kurtosis | -0.40956 |
| Skewness | -0.35586 |
| Range | 4 |
| Minimum | 1 |
| Maximum | 5 |
| Sum | 177 |
| Count | 50 |
Summary and Description:
School Readiness
The mean score for school readiness was 3.54, with a median and mode of 3.00. This tells me that most parents felt their children were “moderately” ready for kindergarten. While the average was slightly higher, the most common response was in the middle. This may show that not all children felt fully prepared, and more could be done to support them. Prior research shows that readiness can vary depending on family support and school programs (HeadStart.gov, 2023)
Part BRespond to the following questions.
What are some considerations for choosing a measure of central tendency?
When choosing a measure of central tendency, I first examine how the data is shaped and what type of data I have. The mean is usually best if the numbers are balanced and there are no outliers. However, if the data is skewed or has extreme values, the median might give a better picture. I also think about what I’m trying to understand. If I want to know the most common answer, I use the mode. Picking the right one helps me describe the data in a way that makes sense.
What impact do variable types have on testing when considering central tendency?
The kind of variable I’m using makes a difference. If I use something like a 1 to 5 rating scale, I deal with ordinal data. I think the median or mode is better for that type because they show the middle or most common answer. Using the mean might not tell the whole story, especially if the answers are spread out or uneven. But if the data has equal steps between numbers, like interval or ratio data, then the mean is more useful. So, the type of variable helps me figure out which number tells the truth about my data.
Which measure of central tendency was most appropriate for each of your variables? Why?
I used rating scales for my variables—Parental Involvement, School-Based Practices, and School Readiness—so they are ordinal variables. Because of this, the median and mode were the most helpful. They showed the middle and most common scores without being affected by extreme answers. I did look at the mean, too, but I relied more on the median and mode because they told a clearer story.
References
Garber, K. L., Foster, T. J., Little, M. H., Cohen-Vogel, L., Bratsch-Hines, M., & Burchinal, M. R. (2022). Transition practices of rural Pre-K and kindergarten teachers and their relations to children’s academic and social skills. Early Education and Development, 34(2), 426–448. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2022.2026191
HeadStart.gov. (2023, September 26). Transitions. https://headstart.gov/transitions/article/transition-kindergarten
Sands, M. M., & Meadan, H. (2023). Transition to Kindergarten for Children with Disabilities: Parent and Kindergarten Teacher Perceptions and Experiences. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 43(4), 265–277. https://doi.org/10.1177/02711214221146748
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