Descriptive statistics

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS Gender of Respondents The fifty (50) respondents who responded to the questionnaire provided by the researcher were made to make available their gender. Collection of data on the gender of the respondents was necessary to affect decision making for analysis of results in determining whether or not a 2-tier curriculum could have any impact on the academic success of students. In all, there were twenty four (24) males and twenty six (26) females. This shows that there was a great balance in the selection of candidates according to their gender (Berry, 2005). The table below gives a representation of the gender of the respondents in terms of percentage.
Gender
Number of Respondents
Percentage (%)
Male
Female
24
26
48
52
Total
50
100
Given the fact that there were only two possible responses on the gender of respondents, it can be said that the data collected on the gender of the respondents was done on a nominal scale.
Marital status of respondents
Another group of data was collected using nominal scale. This was data on the marital status of respondents. The researcher thought it prudent to collect data on the marital status of respondents because it is common knowledge that the marital status of a person may affect his or her learning in one way or the other. The reason why this is so, is that marriage changes the usual personal roles of a person in one way or the other (Fuchs et al, 1997). The data collected on the marital status of respondents was computed and have been displayed below.
Marital Status
Number of Respondents
Percentage (%)
Single
Married
Divorced
Widow
29
14
2
5
58
28
4
10
Total
50
100
From the data presented above, it can be seen that majority of the respondents are not married. Their percentage is 58%, which is more than half of the total sample size. This was followed by 14% who were married and 5% who were widows. The least percentage was 2% representing those who are divorced.
Impact of 2-tier curriculum on student performance
Using a likert scale, the researcher collected a nominal data (Danielle 2009; Cheng, 2009) on the impact of a 2-tier curriculum on student performance. Respondents were given closed ended alternatives to select their responses from. It would be noted that a close ended question gives respondents specific answers from which they have to make a choice (Choi et al, 2008). The choice of answers given to respondents were indicated as insignificant, slightly significant, significant and very significant. In order to be able to use the SPSS in finding the mean of the responses, the answers were scored as 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. The over all responses have been represented in the table below.
Response
Score (x)
Frequency (f)
Fx
Insignificant
Slightly significant
Significant
Very significant
1
2
3
4
6
14
10
20
6
28
30
80
∑f = 50
∑fx = 144
Mean = ∑fx/∑f = 144/50 = 2. 88
Judging from the responses in the table and as computed with the SPSS, it can be said that there are many respondents who root for the use of 2-tier curriculum as an intervention for improving the academic performance of students. This is judged from the fact that the mean score as computed was more than the average score (Gardener, 2008).
REFERENCE LIST
Berry, J. M. (2005). Nonprofits and civic engagement. Public Administration Review, 65, 568–578.
Cheng, K. W. K. (2009). The effect of web-based collaborative learning methods to the accounting courses in technical education. College Student Journal, 43, 755–765.
Danielle F. A. (2009). Elements of Contemporary Motivation and Organizational Success. Pearl Press Limited: London
Choi, K., Hoff, C., Gregorich, S., & Grinstead, O. (2008). The efficacy of female condom skills training in HIV risk reduction among women: A randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 1841–1848.
Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Hamlett, C. L., Phillips, N. B., Karns, K., & Dutka, S. (1997). Enhancing students’ helping behavior during peer-mediated instruction with conceptual mathematical explanations. The Elementary School Journal, 97, 223–249.
Gardener, J (2008). Global Labor Relationships. The International Laws on Labor. New York: Wiley, Ebrary Reference