Peer Review

Correlation exercise

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Jun 17, 2003 by Psychology

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This web site provides an interesting and relatively simple project designed to
teach students the basics of a correlational study. There are links to six short
personality measures, each of which yields one or more scores. This data, plus
several additional variables which are suggested, is entered into a statistical
analysis program (presumed to be SPSS) and analyzed following the provided
instructions. The site provides a reasonably easy and relevant interactive
method for students to learn to a) test themselves, b) gather data, and c)
utilize data for analysis.
Type of Material:: This is an interactive project which requires reading and responding to
survey-type questions, collecting data and transcribing scores, inputting data
into a statistical analysis program, and generating and discussing the results.
Recommended Uses:: This can be used as a class assignment where individual student data can be
aggregated for analysis. It can be used in a beginning statistics/research
course, as well as in a beginning assessment course.
Technical Requirements:: Availability of statistical analysis software is required. This may require a
minimum hardware configuration.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: To quote the author: "The purpose of this laboratory project is to gain some
experience with the correlational method of data collection and analysis."
Target Student Population:: The intended audience appears to be college or advanced high school students
studying research methods, statistics, and/or the construction of assessment
tools.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: This exercise presumes a basic understanding of statistics.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: This is a simple and understandable project that will have beneficial learning
outcomes because of the intrinsic interest of the activities and the hands on
nature of the activities. Students will find this approach engaging. The surveys
provided for this project are relevant to student interests or concerns (e.g.,
test anxiety), simple to understand, easy to take, and yield instant scores for
analysis. All the links on this site work well. The site author suggests
incorporating other data, such as GPAs and gender, into students' correlational
analyses. This site could also be used to introduce concepts in assessment,
especially survey construction.
Concerns:: The site appears to be tailored for a specific class rather than general use,
whereby instructions for data analysis are not clear. Approaches to statistical
analysis are not explained. Instructors wishing to use this site would have to
augment the site instructions for analysis in order to provide clarity to
students. Instructors must also ensure students have necessary computer skills
and software.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: This correlational project is quite appealing because it involves responding to
several (6) personality measures, which most students enjoy. In addition, there
is a social component through which individual scores are aggregated for
analysis.
Concerns:: This site requires direct instructor input. Instructors will have to provide
specific instructions and/or information to students regarding the collected
data, or the design of surveys

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: The directions and tasks are simple and easy to complete.
Concerns:: There may be an issue with the use of statistical analysis software. The
directions given indicate that the author has one particular product in mind
(probably SPSS). That product isn't always available, so the project would
benefit from the inclusion to a web-based correlation application which all
users would have access to. Then the step-by-step instructions for the analysis
could be standardized and would be applicable for all users.

Other Issues and Comments:: This is a well conceived activity with a clear purpose. It suffers a bit in
execution due to some ambiguous instructions and the implied use of a specific
statistical analysis product. However, with very little effort I was able to
incorporate it into my online Experimental Psychology course as a fun and
educationally valuable project.
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