SPSS: Frequency Statistics

Assignment Overview

By successfully completing this assignment, you demonstrate your proficiency in the following competency and specialized behaviors:

• Competency 4: Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
  • C4.SP.A: Apply leadership skills, decision making, and the use of technology to inform evidence-based research practice to develop, implement, evaluate, and communicate interventions across the specialization of advanced generalist practice settings.
    • Related Assignment Criteria:
      • 1: Devise accurate SPSS datasets.
      • 3: Describe and report the statistical method or test outcomes using the appropriate statistical method or test.
  • C4.SP.B: Apply leadership skills, decision making, and the use of technology to inform program evaluation to develop, implement, evaluate, and communicate interventions across the specialization of advanced generalist practice settings.
    • Related Assignment Criteria:​
      • 2: Develop appropriate statistical tests and reports that assist in program evaluation.
      • 4: Apply critical thinking in verbal and written communication through the use of leadership and technology.

Assignment Scenario

You are evaluating the mental health services provided to children by your agency. The agency provides trauma-informed counseling services to children and youth, ages 5–18. The agency’s goal is to have a relatively equal distribution of children and youth, in terms of ages, who seek services.

You will complete a frequency distribution of the number and ages of children who accessed services within your community agency over the past month. You will need to provide a histogram and summary of your analysis. Consider the implications of the findings as you plan for next year’s programming.

Also refer to the tutorial provided in the first study in this unit as a reference on how to conduct frequency distributions.

Assignment Instructions

Using the Unit 2 Dataset 2 given in the resources, respond to the following prompts:

1. Create an SPSS file that includes the ages and number of children who have accessed services to your agency over the past year. The SPSS output, which can be copied and pasted into a Word document, should include a chart showing the frequency statistics.
2. Develop a histogram to demonstrate the number of children and their ages.
3. Consider that the main goal for using frequency distribution is to simplify large datasets. Graphs provide us with a tool to interpret the data. Addressing the prompts below, provide a brief narrative summary that you would provide to the Ray Foundation to describe the age of children and frequency of services used.
   • Interpret the data displayed in the SPSS output graphs you created.
     • What trends do you see in the usage of mental health services?
     • How do these trends affect your planning for the program?
     • What would be your next steps if you wanted to see a representation of all age groups at your agency?

Additional Requirements

Your assignment should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
• Length of paper: One double-spaced page.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point