LAB PROJECT PHASE 2 – SURVEY ADMINISTRATION, SCORING, AND DATA FILE CREATION INSTRUCTIONS PURPOSE: The purpose of this assignment is to administer surveys and create an SPSS data file containing the survey data. SKILLS/ KNOWLEDGE: As a result of completing this assignment, you will be able to: • Administer surveys online or in person and score the surveys • Use SPSS statistical software to create a data file containing the raw survey data and one index variable

Lab Project Phase 2 – Survey Administration, Scoring,

and Data File Creation Instructions

 

PURPOSE:  The purpose of this assignment is to administer surveys and create an SPSS data file containing the survey data.

 

SKILLS/ KNOWLEDGE: As a result of completing this assignment, you will be able to:

 

• Administer surveys online or in person and score the surveys
• Use SPSS statistical software to create a data file containing the raw survey data and one index variable

 

BACKGROUND:  The questions on the survey are derived from instruments used in published studies of orthodox Christian beliefs, including Francis, Williams, & Robbins (2010) and Kaldor & Francis (2000).

 

TASKS:

 

• Download the following documents from the “Lab Project” folder in the Assignment Instructions. The information in these documents is essential for successful completion of the Lab Project:
  1. Lab Project Survey
  2. Step-by-Step Instructions for Survey Administration
  3. IRB Guidelines for Survey Administration
  4. Raw Data Scoring Instructions
• After reviewing the above documents, administer the Lab Project Survey to at least 12 people, either online or in-person, keeping in mind the IRB guidelines. Allow yourself plenty of time to complete this step.
• Score your completed surveys and enter the data into a new SPSS data file. Create an index variable that represents the total understanding of Christian doctrine for your sample. Instructions for scoring the survey, entering data, and creating the index variable are in the Raw Data Scoring Instructions document in the Lab Project Folder.
  • Ensure that your SPSS data file includes individual surveys as the cases, or rows, and the survey questions as the variables, or columns. The index variable representing total understanding of Christian doctrine will reside in column 11, as shown in the example below:

 

 

• Note: The only precondition to participating in the survey is that participants must be at least 15 years old; otherwise, participants can be of any gender, race, religious background, etc. It is important to emphasize that the results of the survey are anonymous by pointing out the instructions at the top of the survey. The survey is limited to 10 questions due to length limitations placed by online survey services. Do not add or remove any questions when administering the survey.
• Submit this SPSS data file to Blackboard as the finished product for Phase 2

 

CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS: Please carefully review the Lab Phase 2 Rubric. Also, remember that asking questions contributes to learning and success, so please contact your instructor should you have any questions related to the assignment.

 

 

 

 

Liberty University’s Institutional Review Board

Survey Guidelines For Students

 

In order to comply with IRB policy and to ensure a positive experience for all students and participants, the following directions must be followed when administering surveys for the Liberty University Psychology 355 Lab Project.

1. All survey respondents must remain completely anonymous. This means that there should be no identifying information of any sort on any of the survey forms or related documents.  If you administer the survey electronically, there should be no way to track the respondents’ identities.  If you administer the survey in person, all forms must be folded and placed by the respondents into a general collection envelope.
2. No results or other information related to the survey are to be released, used, or published in any form outside of the confines of the Liberty University Psychology 355 environment.
3. Respondents (or participants) have the right to withdraw or stop completion of the survey at any time.
4. All instructions given in other documents related to the survey or the use of survey data must be followed at all times.

Failure to adhere to these requirements could result in significant point loss on the lab project.  If you have any questions about specific procedures, please contact your professor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lab Project Survey

Disclosure:  I am asking you to complete this survey as part of the requirements for my statistics in psychology course. Your answers will remain completely anonymous.  No personal information about you will be linked to this survey.  Please do not put your name or any other identifying information on the survey. The results of this survey will only be used for educational purposes and will not be published or released to the public.  You must be 15 years old or older in order to complete this survey.

Directions:  For the following questions, mark the answers that most reflect your understanding of general Christian doctrine. This is not a personal belief survey. In other words, we are more interested in your understanding of what Christianity teaches, and not necessarily in your own personal beliefs, which may or may not coincide with these statements. The survey consists of two pages of questions. For each question, please mark your level of agreement with the given statement.

1. Christianity teaches belief in a personal God.

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

2. Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ was God in a full sense.

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

3. Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ really rose from the dead.

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

4. Christianity teaches that people are born good.

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

5. Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ’s death was a sacrifice that paid for the sins of humankind.

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

 

6. Christianity teaches that what is good and evil depends on the circumstances of the time.

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

7. Christianity teaches that the Bible is God’s word and all it says is true.

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

8. Christianity teaches that faith in Jesus Christ is necessary if a person wants to go to heaven.

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

9. Christianity teaches that God exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

10. Including Sundays and any other day of the week, how many times per year would you say that you attend church? (For your reference, there are 52 weeks in one year.)  Please enter a number in the box:

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey!

 

 

 

Raw Data Scoring Instructions

How to create your SPSS data file:

 

Open a new data file in SPSS. You will create a file containing one survey per row. The columns will contain one variable for each item (question) on the survey (for a total of 10). Additionally, you will create one index variable that represents the sum of responses to questions 1-9 for each survey (see below). This index variable should appear in column 11. An example is provided here for your reference:

 

 

How to score surveys and enter the results into your data file:

 

All questions on the survey except the last one are written as Likert-type items, with choices ranging from “Strongly agree” to “Strongly disagree.” In order to enter these into the data file for analysis, each of the answer choices will be given a corresponding score ranging from 1 to 5. NOTE: It is important to pay attention to the following directions, as some of the items will be reverse-scored (see below).

1. Gather your completed surveys. It will be necessary to enter data from each individual survey into SPSS.
2. If you have used the online method, you must follow these steps to access each individual survey:
3. Sign into your account and go to “My Surveys.” Your survey title will appear with 3 icons to the right: Design, Collect, and Analyze. Click on the pie graph under “Analyze.” This will take you to a Response Summary page.
4. On the menu bar to the left, click on “Browse Responses.” This allows you to view each individual survey, which is necessary in order to enter and analyze data in SPSS. Within “Browse Responses,” you can move from one individual survey to the next by clicking on the “Next” and “Prev” arrow buttons at the top.
5. All items on the survey will be scored from 1 to 5 except for item 10. You will enter the scores for each survey in rows (survey 1 in row 1, survey 2 in row 2, etc.), under the appropriate question column (Question 1 in column 1, etc.). If you have 10 surveys, you will have 10 cases (rows), if you have 25 surveys, 25 cases (rows), etc.
6. Scores for items 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9 are as follows:

Strongly agree = 5

Agree = 4

Neither agree nor disagree = 3

Disagree = 2

Strongly disagree = 1

1. Items 4 and 6 must be reverse-scored. This is because, in opposition to the other items, these items indicate a fundamentally different worldview than the Christian worldview, so the scoring must be reversed; this allows higher scores on all items to reflect an understanding of Christian doctrine, while lower scores indicate misunderstanding or disagreement. This is a method commonly used in survey research. Therefore, scores for items 4 and 6 are as follows:

Strongly agree = 1

Agree = 2

Neither agree nor disagree = 3

Disagree = 4

Strongly disagree = 5

1. For question 10 (church attendance), you will simply enter the exact number that the respondent filled in on the survey (for example, 10, 52, etc.) under the appropriate variable in the SPSS data file.
2. Remember that the original research question is about the relationship between church attendance and understanding of Christian doctrine. We have one variable that represents church attendance (item 10), but we do not have one sole variable to compare it to—a total score that represents doctrinal understanding.

To create this total score index variable: After you have entered all of your survey data, create a new variable called Tot_Und (which is shorthand for “total understanding”) in Column 11. In this column, enter the sum of items 1-9 for each survey.

5. You will submit this SPSS data file as your finished product in Blackboard.

Remember to refer to the “Lab Project Phase 2 Instructions” in addition to this document when completing this phase.

Submit this assignment by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of Module/Week 4.