StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Rates of Bullying in the USA - Assignment Example

Cite this document
Summary
This paper “Rates of Bullying in the USA” will present a research design to study a number of factors that are associated with rates of bullying in order to suggest an experimental statistical research project that can be used to outline the problem and suggest possible solutions…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.7% of users find it useful
Rates of Bullying in the USA
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Rates of Bullying in the USA"

Rates of Bullying in the USA Introduction Bullying is among the most important behavioral problems with which many school administrators must deal. Because it can be found at all levels of education and must be controlled in order to serve a school’s socializing function, as well as in order to maintain discipline and promote a healthy learning environment, it is important to recognize the factors that are associated with the rates of prevalence for school-based bullying. This brief paper will present a research design to study a number of factors that are associated with rates of bullying in order to suggest an experimental statistical research project that can be used to outline the problem and suggest possible solutions. The relevant data for the research design will be taken from the United States Statistical Abstracts -- specifically details regarding incidents of crime and safety concerns in American public schools. By presenting the outlines of a statistical design relevant to this data, including an initial tabular presentation of the descriptive statistics regarding the data, it is expected that this brief paper will illustrate both an understanding of basic statistical processes and a possible experimental approach to understanding the important social problem of bullying. Variables The dependent variable in the proposed research will consist of the rate of bullying evident in a variety of schools having different characteristics, expressed as a percentage. As such the dependent variable will be a ratio-type variable, having the ability to be expressed as a measurable number with fine distinctions possible as to quantity. The independent variables to be utilized for this study will be drawn from data provided in the Statistical Abstracts, including age-level of students (expressed as an ordinal variable measured as elementary, middle, of high school), enrollment of school (expressed as ordinal breakdowns determining the size of schools), and minority enrollment within schools (again expressed as an ordinal breakdown). It is expected that these different independent variables will each have an impact on the rate of bullying, as they determine the developmental age of students, as well as the size and supposed social stresses and intercommunity cohesion of the various school types. The proposed relationships of the variables will be as defined in the following section. Research Problem and Hypothesis The basic research problem will be to discover how the age and population characteristics of a given school are associated with incident rates of bullying. It is expected that the older the student population, the more likely it will be that bullying will be prevalent, largely because the students will be more likely to be willing to use coercion and violence against their peers as they grow into their own independence. This leads to the following hypothesis. H1. The older the student population, the higher the rate of bullying that will exist. Similarly it is expected that the larger a school is the more likely bullying will be prevalent, because (1) the school community will be more difficult to govern, and (2) the larger number of students will likely include more of the personality type that is prone to violence and bullying. This results in the second hypothesis. H2. The larger the school, the higher the rate of bullying that will exist. Finally, it is expected that the higher the rate of minority students within a given school, the more likely bullying will be prevalent. It is expected that two factors will work toward this end. First, the prevalence of more diverse communities will likely result in more social cohesion problems at this developmental age. Second, it is expected that minority students will be more likely to be involved in bullying, either as its victims, or as perpetrators, as they seek to express their own independence. This leads to the third hypothesis. H3. The larger the minority enrollment, the higher the rate of bullying that will exist. Research Design In order to test the hypotheses an appropriate statistical measure must be chosen. While the student t-test has often been used in the evaluation of such data, some findings show that is inappropriately applied to data that does not include ratio level independent variables Romano et al., 2006). Therefore the Mann-Whitney U test will used as it has been shown to be a robust predictor for data that includes ordinal level independent variables (Lehman, 1999). This statistical measure also has the added advantage of being calculable using common programs such as MS Excel. Table 1 presents the descriptive findings for a preliminary analysis of the data. While it seems likely from a review of this finding that none but the H2 hypothesis will prove significant, the data does suggest that there are clearly differences in student population types that are associated with different rates and prevalence of bullying. For the data as presented, it seems likely that a statistical treatment of H2, at least, would yield a serviceable conclusion relevant to the proposed direction of the relationship. Table 1. Rates of Bullying by School Type School characteristics Student Bullying All public schools 25.3 Level Primary 20.5 Middle 43.5 High School 21.7 Combined 24.9 Enrollment >300 18.7 300-499 20.8 500-999 30.6 1,000 or more 33.2 Percent minority enrollment > 5 percent 25.6 5 to 20 percent 24.9 20 to 50 percent 22.1 50 percent or more 27.6 Conclusion The research design presented needs refinement. It may be the case, for example, that above and below certain thresholds for both developmental age and minority enrollments there are more likely to be problems. A more thorough research analysis than can be provided here can help determine this. If the proposed study were conducted, it is expected that H2 would be supported, while suggestive findings regarding H1 and H3 would also be defined for further analysis. References Lehmann, E. (1999). Elements of Large Sample Theory. Springer. Romano, J., et al. (2006). Appropriate statistics for ordinal level data: Should we really be using t-test and Cohen’s d for evaluating group differences on the NSSE and other surveys? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Florida Association of Institutional Research, February 1 -3, 2006, Cocoa Beach, Florida United States Statistical Abstracts. (2007-2008). [online] http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/education/school_crime_and_safety.html [Accessed 3 August 2011]. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Any topic concerning government (economy, u.s census, presidential Research Paper”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/statistics/1578758-any-topic-concerning-government-economy-us-census-presidential-election-congress-bill
(Any Topic Concerning Government (economy, u.S Census, Presidential Research Paper)
https://studentshare.org/statistics/1578758-any-topic-concerning-government-economy-us-census-presidential-election-congress-bill.
“Any Topic Concerning Government (economy, u.S Census, Presidential Research Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/statistics/1578758-any-topic-concerning-government-economy-us-census-presidential-election-congress-bill.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Rates of Bullying in the USA

Unemployment in Theory and Practice

The UK Domestic and International factors Causing Variation in Unemployment Rates in the UK, the EU and the usa Domestic Causing Variation in Unemployment Rates According to the graph, it is apparent that the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom is relatively lower as compared to the European Union and the United States of America.... Consequently, economists argue that unemployment is an issue that affects every state or country in the world with varying percentage rates (Srinivasan and Sivagnanam 2010)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Case Study

Aspects of Occupant Comfort

This is a short treatise intended to acquaint occupants of sections of a new square-shaped 5 storey office type building with possibilities of thermal, visual and acoustic discomfort in the occupied portions, six rooms at various positions within the building each intended for various activities, and means by which such discomfort can be minimised....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

The Newark International Airport

Ownership is publicly owned and managed while the owner is Port Authority Of New York & New Jersey (FAA, 2004).... It is open to public and has wind… The airport is 18.... feet above sea level. EWR was the region's first major airport started on October 1, 1928 by the City of Newark on 68 acres of marshland (NLC, n....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Fluctuations in the Value of Sterling with Respect to the Yen

The income from abroad is based on the exchange rates apart from the various other factors.... The paper “Fluctuations in the Value of Sterling with Respect to the Yen” looks at the fluctuation of the value of the currency.... The cause of fluctuation of any currency against some other currency depends upon various factors....
20 Pages (5000 words) Assignment

Increased Unemployment in the USA

The paper 'Increased Unemployment in the usa' concerns the nations across the world observed the worst economic recession and downturn in 2008 - 2009 after the great depression of the 1930s.... It must also be pinpointed that investors, organisations and institutions in developed nations made mammoth investments in USA so debacle of US economy also sabotaged the financial position of investors from other developed nations, which in turn affected the economic growth rates of emerging countries like China, India, Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa, Pakistan, and others....
8 Pages (2000 words) Case Study

Insurance Industry in Europe and America

"Insurance Industry in Europe and America" paper examines the various external forces affecting the insurance industry and brings out the effects it causes in the insurance industry.... There exist means through which insurance companies have responded to the external forces that affect them.... hellip; In conclusion, various external forces have compounded challenges that insurance industries are facing in the rating, underwriting of insurance, and claims made in the insurance sector....
7 Pages (1750 words) Coursework

Immigrant Bullying

Evidently, bullying has intense ramifications and it requires outstanding solutions for its culmination in Boston MA and the rest of the usa.... The current adults underwent severe bullying in their schools due to their ethnic inferiority (Fay, 2009).... nbsp;It is evident that the impact of bullying was substantial and had immense magnitude.... Short-term effects contribute majorly to the existence of the long-term effects of bullying (Blosnich, 2012)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Proposal

Laboratory Analysis: Cone Calorimeters

ome of the most common variables measured to gain a better understanding of fires are the heat of combustion, the number of gases emitted particularly the amount of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide present in the smoke, the ignition time, and size and thickness of the smoke, mass loss rates, and heat release rates....
8 Pages (2000 words) Lab Report
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us