Comparing

Groups

Comparing groups is very prevalent in social science research. For example there are a lot
of studies comparing educational achievement between males and females. Or there are
many samples comparing crime rates between various countries. In this module we will go
over the basics of comparing groups and we will develop a deeper understanding how to
compare proportions and means. However, before we move on, provide an example of a
social science study that compares groups. Please link the journal article, describe the
study, and explain the conclusions below:

Q1)
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Susan_Coleman/publication/280017695_Access_to
_capital_and_terms_of_credit_A_comparison_of_men-_and_women-
owned_small_businesses/links/59e752204585152d5f04de37/Access-to-capital-and-
terms-of-credit-A-comparison-of-men-and-women-owned-small-businesses.pdf

Article: Access to capital and terms of credit: A comparison of men- and women-owned
small businesses
Summary: The study compares the access of men and women-owned businesses to capital.
The study also compares the credit terms for loans that women take versus those for loans
that men take.
Explanation: The analysis showed that women generally didn’t make use of external capital
but there appeared to be any discrimination with regards to accessing external financing
between men and women. However, it was found that women-owned businesses tended to
pay larger interest than men for financing and that women put up collateral more often
than men-owned businesses.

Basics of Comparing Groups

Read the example below:


















In the example above, the study is considered to have a binary variable.
• Binary Variables: are variables that only have two categories.
o For the example above, the binary variable is gender.
o Q2) Can you think of other binary variables (list your answers below):
§ Cooking and washing up times
§ Age
§ Countries
o Q3) Did the study you linked earlier have a binary variable?
§ Yes
• Studies comparing two variables are considered a bivariate analysis
• Within bivariate analyses there are response variables and explanatory variables.
o Response variable is another term for the dependent variable/outcome
variable
o Explanatory variable is one that explains change in that variable.
§ Often used interchangeably with independent variables, but there is a
slight difference. To learn more please click here.
o For the study above the response variable is the time spent cooking and
washing up, while the explanatory variable is gender.
§ Q4) What are the response variable(s) and explanatory variable(s) for
the study you linked above?
• Response Variable: access to external financing; interest rates
• Explanatory Variable: Gender
Dependent vs. Independent Samples
• Dependent samples use the same subjects in each sample.
o Longitudinal studies usually use dependent samples.
§ The sample in the longitudinal sample stays relatively same
throughout the course of the study.
• Ex: I would like to conduct a study on the development of
maturity among students in the Development Studies sections
A51 and A52 throughout their four years of college.
• Independent Samples use different samples for each observation
o In other words, observations in one sample are independent of those from
another sample.
o This type of sample is more commonly used in research.
o Cross-sectional studies usually use independent samples.
§ The samples in cross-sectional studies often compare different
samples in a given point in time.
• Ex: I would like to conduct a study on the development of
maturity among students studying Development Studies in
DLSU.

 o Q5) Does the study you linked above use a dependent or independent
sample? Explain your answer.
The study is an independent sample because the measurements are from
different people. Knowing something about the distribution of values in the
first sample doesn't inform you about the distribution of values in the
second.
• Q6) Research why it is important to understand the difference between dependent
and independent samples. Write your answer below:
It’s important to understand the difference between dependent and independent samples
so that we can construct a statistical interference based on what type of sample we’re
studying. We have to know what type of sample it is so that we know what type of
hypothesis test we have to use.

Difference of Estimates and Their Standard Error
• An estimate has a standard error that describes how precisely it estimates a
parameter








The Ratio of Parameters
• A way to compare proportions or means is by using their ratio
o Ratio of 1 means they are equal
o Ratios further from 1 represent larger effects

Comparing two Proportions

Please watch the video below and answer the following questions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0at6LpYvHc&list=PLvxOuBpazmsOXoys_s9qkbspk_
BlOtWcW&index=5

Q7) What does it mean if the difference of population proportions equals 0 or are equal?
- There is no association between the variables being compared

Q8) What are the assumptions of the two sample inference procedures on proportions?
Discuss in further detail what these assumptions mean.
- There are independent simple random samples from the population of interest. All
of these will be used to compute the pooled sample proportion. The pooled sample
proportion is the number of individuals with the characteristics divided by the total
number of people.
 - Sample sizes are sufficient for reasonable normal approximation. The larger the
sample size, the lesser the standard error while the confidence intervals decreases
in width.

Q9) Describe how you can use this approach in your research study.
The measurements that would be needed in the research on mental health stigma
would be categorical in nature and is to be taken from two distinct groups (male and
female, or otherwise). The analysis would involve comparing two independent
proportions.

Quantitative Data: Comparing two Means

Please watch the video below and answer the following questions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86ss6qOTfts&list=PLvxOuBpazmsN0jpds3sD1vHmAl
w5XFKx-&index=1

Q10) What are the two problems encountered when trying to compare two means?
- Population variance is usually unknown
- Replacing population standard deviation with sample standard deviation does not
result in a statistic that has a t distribution

Q11) What were the two other options a researcher can take to compare two means?
Assuming normality:
- The pooled-variance t procedure – we assume the two populations have the same
variance and we pool these two together that results in an exact t distribution
- The Welch (unpooled) t procedure – we don’t assume that population variances are
equal but end up with an approximated t distribution.
Not assuming normality:
- Mann-Whitney U test/Wilcoxon tank-sum test
- Bootstrap methods and permutation tests

Q12) Describe how you can use this approach in your research study.
I’m not sure if this approach can be used in the group’s research on mental
health stigmas.

Reflection Questions:

Q13) Discuss with your classmate the study they chose and compare the research
approaches with one another. Did the study compare proportions or means? What was the
significance of the study? What sampling technique was used? Was it an independent or
dependent sample?
- My classmate’s research study is about comparing drop out rates whenever there
was a price hike in 2016 and 2017 in DLSU. The study was comparing proportions
because it each time there was a price hike, to calculate for the drop out, it
compared the number of students who dropped out and the number of students
 who enrolled in the previous term. The significance of the study is to check whether
or not price hikes were affecting the number of students who enrolled in the
following term. The sample is based on the data given by the school. It contains the
number of students who enrolled in the previous term and the following term when
the price hike applied. It was a dependent sample because the sample contained the
same students before and after the price hike.
-