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Journal Article 1: Oppong-Nuako, J., Shore, B. M., Saunders-Stewart, K. S., & Gyles, P. D. T. (2015). Using brief teacher interviews to assess the extent of inquiry in classrooms. Journal of Advanced Academics, 26, 197–226. doi:10.1177/1932202X15588368

Learning Objectives: 5-1: The ethical and practical considerations of describing your sample. | 5-2: How to describe your sample using descriptive statistics.

Summary: The study involved interviews with six teachers about their teaching strategies.

Questions to Consider:

1. How did the researchers carry out their study in an ethical manner?
2. What coding system did they use?
3. What descriptive statistics are reported, and what do they suggest about classroom-inquiry?

Journal Article 2: Cheung, C. S., Monroy, J. A., & Delany, D. E. (2017). Learning-related values in young children’s storybooks: An investigation in the United States, China, and Mexico. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 48, 532–541. doi:10.1177/0022022117696801

Learning Objectives: 5-1: The ethical and practical considerations of describing your sample. | 5-2: How to describe your sample using descriptive statistics.

Summary: The study examined children’s books in the United States, China, and Mexico.

Questions to Consider:

1. What was the purpose of this study?
2. What coding categories were used?
3. What do the descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) presented in Table 1 indicate?

Journal Article 3: Bonkiewicz, L. (2016). Shooting stars: Estimating the career productivity trajectories of patrol officers. Police Quarterly, 20, 164–188. doi:10.1177/1098611116671309

Learning Objectives: 5-3: The appropriate statistics and graphs based on the type of data you have. | 5-4: How to use z scores and percentiles to describe your sample.

Summary: The study examined the career productivity of patrol officers over twenty years.

Questions to Consider:

1. What descriptive statistics are reported to describe the demographic and productivity variables of the sample? Are these statistics appropriate given the scale of measurement for each variable?
2. How did the authors use z scores?
3. What do the results of this study suggest?