EDU515 – Measurement

and Metrics
Unit 4 Application
Due: 11:59pm EST on Sunday at the end of Unit 4
Quiz #1
Points: 20

Name: Bridget Sandoval

Instructor: Dr. C
Mod: EDU 515 Measurement and Metrics

Instructions:

Please answer the questions by typing your responses after each question.  Save the file when
you are finished and submit it using the assignment link in Unit 5. You will have only ONE
attempt to complete this Application Quiz.

Questions:

In the presentation and Case Study Exercise for Unit 3, we used a scenario where you were an
employee in student affairs at a university.  In those scenarios you examined the role of student
activities to enhance freshmen transition and the perceived stress of a group of freshmen.  

It has been shown that social support is a buffer that helps to protect against stress. So, in order to
determine how to help your group of freshmen, you asked them to complete another measure called the
Social Support Survey.  It is a norm-referenced, standardized measure that was normed on a
representative sample of college freshmen.  The Social Support Survey consists of 20 questions that
ask students about the supports they use.  Each question is answered either yes, sometimes, or no.  

1. What type of response format is being used? (2 points)

Structured

When the survey is complete, you assign points for each response with 2 = Yes, 1 = sometimes, and 0 =
No.  You sum the scores for each item and obtain a total support score for each student.  High scores
suggest strong support systems and low scores suggest poor/weak social support systems.  

2. What level of measurement is being used? (1 point)

Ordinal
Forty freshmen complete the Social Support Scale and their scores are as follows:

11 20 12 10 12 17 19 14
22 15 14 15 18 14 11 13
16 25  6 19 37 25 20 16
 9  3 13 20 11 12 11 10
 7 27 18 31 15 20 18 38

Using these scores, create a grouped and cumulative frequency distribution table that has nine
intervals and enter the data below (42 points):

Class Interval F cf

35-38 2 40
31-34 1 38
27-30 1 37
23-26 2 36
19-22 7 34

15-18 9 27
11-14 12 18
7-10 4 6
3-6 2 2
      N = 40                                                i = 4     

Using the table you’ve created, answer the following questions based on the class intervals:

1. The university recommends that students receiving scores below 12 be selected to participate in
a “Freshman Connection Program” that helps students develop support systems among peers on
campus.  Based on your results, how many students would be recommended for the program? (1
point)
 18

2. One student you are concerned about, Sally, scored 11.  

a) How many freshmen perceived that they had a poorer social support system than Sally? (1
point)

b) How many freshmen perceived that they had a stronger social support system than Sally? (1
point)

22

3.  What might you conclude about Sally’s perception of her social support system? (2 points)

Sally perceives that she does not have a very good support system. Her class interval is the mode
so she might also think that the school does not have a good support system.