PHAR5360 Assignment
General information
Last submission date: 11:59pm on Friday 1st May
Please note that you are not permitted to work through these exercises with any other student.
When summarising data, think about whether a chart or graph could help to demonstrate any connections that you are trying to make.
Ensure that you answer all of the questions associated with each set of data
If you choose a test to perform you will need to justify that choice.
Include your relevant SPSS output in your report.
Overview
You are asked to analyse two sets of data that are currently in two Excel files.
- You must copy each set of data into SPSS and use appropriate codes to display the data (note that the codes are underneath the data in their respective Excel files). You should take a screenshot of the “Data View” and of the “Variable View” and include these images in the Word document that you will submit through Turnitin. Ensure that the “measurement” is set to either nominal, ordinal or interval as appropriate for each variable.
(5%)
Data set 1 – Mental health in prisons
A survey was carried out at 5 prisons across the UK to investigate mental health at these facilities. The survey is the file “Mental health in prisons questionnaire.docx”. The prisons have been anonymised and the codes can be found beneath the data in the file “Mental health in prisons.xlsx”.
- Give a description of the results. This should be a basic report on the number (or percentage) of inmates from each prison who do (and also do not) suffer with each symptom and also a description of the total number of symptoms for each prison.
(10%)
- You should answer the following questions, remember to refer to the data and the statistical evidence that you have generated from SPSS (note that you may have to manipulate the data to answer these questions):
- Are inmates at the young offender’s institution more likely to have mental health symptoms than the other prisons?
(10%)
- Two category B prisons were included in this survey. Are the number of mental health symptoms per inmate different at these two prisons?
(10%)
- Inmates are asked about their dependency on both drugs and alcohol. Is there any evidence to support the theory that inmates are more likely to be dependent on either both or neither substances than to be dependent on just one?
(10%)
- There are several gaps in the Excel spreadsheet. This would indicate that the question could not be answered for that particular inmate. How has SPSS dealt with this issue? How might this might have affected your conclusions? Ensure you include any appropriate references on this subject.
(10%)
Data set 2 – Myocardial infarction and smoking
Information was gathered on patients who were either smokers or former smokers. Some of these patients had had a myocardial infarction (heart attack) whereas others had not.
These patients took part in a study where their “Psychological Index” regarding their risk of suffering a myocardial infarction was assessed before and after they had received an intervention in the form of counselling. (Note that a higher value indicates “more happy” and “less concern”).
The results can be found in the file “Myocardial infarction and smoking study.xlsx”.
- Use Excel or otherwise, calculate the BMI for each patient and include this in your SPSS data set. This is given by the following equation:
(5%)
- Give a description of the results. This should be a basic report on the Psychological Index before and after the intervention based on each of the following: gender, whether the patient has suffered a myocardial infarction, the marital status of the patient and whether they are a current or former smoker.
(10%)
- Compare the BMI (or weight if you have not calculated BMI) of patients who have suffered a myocardial infarction with those who have not, using a suitable test.
(10%)
- Is there any evidence to suggest that patients who have a higher BMI (or weigh more, if you have not calculated BMI) tended to have a lower Psychological Index before they received counselling?
(10%)
Carry out statistical analysis to answer two of the following questions, remembering to provide evidence from your analyses in SPSS (note, if you do more than two then the first two in your document will be marked):
(10%)
- Do patients who are currently married have a higher Psychological Index than those who are not currently married?
- Do men or women show a greater improvement in their Psychological Index after the intervention?
- Are there more smokers than former smokers who have suffered a myocardial infarction?
- Is age associated with either a patient’s Psychological Index or their BMI?