We Know from Research That Poverty Is a Criminogenic Risk

Essay

We know from research that poverty is a criminogenic risk factor. You select a random sample of 50 adolescents (age 24 and younger) with a criminal record who are still living with their parents from a diverse neighborhood in Orlando (FL) (with known household income/year). You group them into four categories: poverty ($0-$23,000; low income ($23,001-$35,000); lower middle class ($35,000-$55,000); upper middle class ($55,001-$150,000), and high income ($150,001+). You are interested to find whether the average age of onset (understood as a conviction; FL has no minimum age for criminal responsibility) varies between individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds. You select an alpha level of 0.05. The results are to be found in the table below.
$$\begin{array} { | r | r | r | r | r | } \hline { \text { Poverty } } & { \begin{array} { l } \text { Low } \\\text { income }\end{array} } & \begin{array} { l } \text { Lower } \\\text { middle } \\\text { class }\end{array} & \begin{array} { l } \text { Upper } \\\text { middle } \\\text { class }\end{array} & { \begin{array} { l } \text { High } \\\text { income }\end{array} } \\\hline 11 & 9 & 16 & 13 & 16 \\\hline 12 & 15 & 15 & 15 & 17 \\\hline 13 & 16 & 14 & 16 & 18 \\\hline 16 & 16 & 18 & 18 & 17 \\\hline 8 & 18 & 17 & 14 & 15 \\\hline 11 & 13 & 17 & 21 & 11 \\\hline 9 & 11 & 11 & 20 & 15 \\\hline 7 & 13 & 24 & 19 & 21 \\\hline 10 & 15 & 21 & 15 & 17 \\\hline 8 & 22 & 18 & 17 & 16 \\\hline\end{array}$$
a. What is the IV and what is the DV? Also indicate the level of measurement for each variable.
b. State your null and alternative hypotheses.
c. Compute:
i. The group mean.
ii. Grand mean.
iii. Standard deviation for each group.
iv. Sum of squares.
v. The degrees of freedom (within and between).
vi. F.
d. State the decision rule
e. Make a decision and interpret your findings.
f. Use the Scheffé test to determine which means (if any) significantly differ from each other.