Question

Some researchers carried out a study to investigate potential predictors of statistics anxiety among undergraduate social science students. Statistics anxiety is thought to be a specific type of academic anxiety that, although related, is distinguishable from test anxiety and math anxiety. It has been found that the majority of social science undergraduate students experience statistics anxiety in their statistics courses. A number of studies have found that holding positive attitudes towards statistics can have a positive impact on statistics anxiety. In addition to considering attitudes, this study also looks at satisfaction of psychological needs and cognitive emotion regulation strategies (adaptive and maladaptive) as predictors of statistics anxiety. Gender is also included as a potential predictor/covariate. For any hypothesis testing, use a significance level, α, of 05 . All variables included in the original study were measured using previously developed scales designed to measure the constructs of interest. The data being analyzed is simulated based on information included in the original article. While the analyses may look similar to what is reported in the article, it is important to recognize that the data analyzed for this homework activity is completely fictitious. Variables included in the data file statstudy2.csv Statistics anxiety [stat.anx2]. This measure consists of 24 items. A higher score implies more statistics anxiety (range: 0-110). Attitudes towards statistics [att.stat]. This measure consists of 36 items. A higher score implies a more positive attitude towards statistics (0−110). Cognitive emotion regulation strategies. This questionnaire consists of 36 items measuring nine cognitive strategies that can be categorized as adaptive (i.e., acceptance, refocus on planning, positive refocusing. positive reappraisal, and putting into perspective for a total of 20 items) or maladaptive (i.e., self-blame, blaming others, rumination, and catastrophizing, for a total of 16 items). A high score on the adaptive subscale [ad.emotreg] implies more adaptive cognitive regulation strategies (range: 0-110) and a high score on the maladaptive subscale [mal.emotreg] implles more maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (0−80). Satisfaction of psychological needs [sat.psychneed]. This measure consists of 21 items for a total score falling within the range of 20 to 110 . A higher score implies more satisfaction of psychological needs. Gender [gender.f2]. Males are coded as 0 and Females are coded as 1 . 18. Does this model (set of variables) explain a significant amount of variation in statistics anxiety? Use information from the output to justify your answer. This is set as a short answer/essay question. 19. Which variables, if any, would be considered statistically significant in this model? Provide specific statistical support for your answer. This is set as a select al question. 20. Provide an interpretation of the coefficients for attitudes towards statistics (att.stat) and maladaptive emotion regulation (mal.emotreg) and gender (gender,f2). This is set as a short answer/essay question.

Answer 1

This study analyzes simulated data to understand the relationship between variables like attitudes toward statistics, emotion regulation strategies, psychological needs satisfaction, and gender with respect to statistics anxiety in social science undergraduates.

Step-by-step explanation:

The questions pertain to a research study investigating statistics anxiety among undergraduate social science students, considering predictors and covariates such as attitudes towards statistics, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, satisfaction of psychological needs, and gender. The fictitious data analyzed simulates the relationship between these variables and statistics anxiety. Without the output data, specific answers to these questions cannot be provided, but generally, significant variables would be those with p-values less than the chosen alpha level of 0.05. Coefficients from the regression analysis indicate the direction and magnitude of the effect of each predictor on statistics anxiety.