Assignment 1 2008: Elementary Analysis

For this assignment you will prepare a brief written report outlining the results of an investigation of a topic of interest to you drawn from any of the data sets available for the course. You may use any data analytic techniques with which you are familiar, but at the very least, I expect to see crosstabulations with the appropriate measures of association, the proper use of statistical control in the context of an elaboration model and a corresponding multiple regression analysis. In particular, you should report something other than a replication using your control variable(s), that is, either explanation, interpretation or specification. And your regression analysis should reflect that same model using either a simple path model for explanation or interpretation or an interaction term for specification. In addition to describing your basic results you should also pay close attention their theoretical implications. Your report should be no more than 5 double-spaced typewritten pages in length, plus any relevant tables. Please present your results using properly designed and labeled data displays. In choosing a topic and developing your analysis keep in mind that the work for this assignment begins to lay the foundation for the research report that you will prepare later in the course.

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