1.
Below is the title and abstract for a journal article by Frumkin et al (2009).
Most of the variables mentioned in the abstract are highlighted in bold font.
"Inside National Service: AmeriCorps' Impact on Participants."
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 28(3): 394 - 416
Abstract. This study examines the short- and long-term impact of AmeriCorps
participation on members' civic engagement, education, employment,
and life skills. The analysis compares changes in the attitudes and behaviors of
participants over time to those of individuals not enrolled in AmeriCorps,
controlling for interest in national and community service, member and
family demographics, and prior civic engagement. Results indicate that
participation in AmeriCorps led to positive impacts on members, especially in the
area of civic engagement, members' connection to community, knowledge
about problems facing their community, and participation in
community-based activities. AmeriCorps had some positive impacts on its
members' employment-related outcomes. Few statistically significant
impacts were found for measures of participants' attitude toward education
or educational attainment, or for selected life skills measures. Within a
subset of community service programs that incorporate a residential
component for members, the study also uncovered a short-term negative
impact of participation on members' appreciation for ethnic and cultural
diversity, which disappeared over time. The implications of these findings for
future research on national service are discussed.
(a) In a few words, state the overall hypothesis being tested in this study.
Participating in the AmeriCorps program brings about various beneficial
changes in participants’ attitudes and behaviors.
(b) The bold-font variables from the abstract are listed in the table below in the order
they appear in the abstract. For each, indicate whether it is an independent
variable or dependent variable.
Variable
1. AmeriCorps participation
2. civic engagement, education, employment,
and life skills
3. interest in national and community service,
member and family demographics, and prior
civic engagement
4. connection to community, knowledge about
problems facing their community, and
participation in community-based activities.
5. employment-related outcomes
6. attitude toward education or educational
attainment
7. residential component
8. appreciation for ethnic and cultural diversity
Dependent


Independent














2. Please answer the five questions that follow the abstract below.
“Peer effects in private and public schools across countries” Zimmer RW, Toma EF
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 19: (1) 75-92 WIN 2000
Abstract:
Many argue that the composition of a school or classroom—that is, the characteristics
of the students themselves—affect the educational attainment of an individual
student. This influence of the students in a classroom is often referred to as a peer
effect. There have been few systematic studies that empirically examined the peer
effect in the educational process. In this research, we examine the peer effect with a
unique data set that includes individual student achievement scores and
comprehensive characteristics of the students' families, teachers, other school
characteristics, and peers for five countries. The data allow an examination of peer
effects in both private and public schools in all countries. Our analysis indicates that
peer effects are a significant determinant of educational achievement; the effects of
peers appear to be greater for low-ability students than for high-ability students.
a) What is the main hypothesis being tested?
b) What is the main dependent variable (DV)?
d) According to the abstract, how is “educational attainment” measured?
e) List each of the independent variables (IV)
f) Diagram the hypotheses, using reasonable concepts and measures for each IV.
3. Suppose that a philanthropic foundation has announced a new program to fund
research examining how land use patterns influence air quality, and/or other aspects
of community wellbeing. To apply for funding, you need to propose a study or series
of studies that address this question.
A. Articulate one or more reasonable, testable hypotheses.
B. Diagram one or more of your hypotheses. Each diagram should include, at
minimum, one dependent variable, one or more independent variables (perhaps
including control variables), and at least one measure for each variable.
Generic Diagram of a Testable Hypothesis
with the Independent Variable on the left side,
and the Dependent Variable on the right.
concept
concept
measure
measure