Assume You Are Interested to Find What Variables Influence the Decision-Making

Essay

Assume you are interested to find what variables influence the decision-making process of a police officer to arrest an individual after being stopped because of a traffic violation (0 = no arrest; 1 = arrest). First, you question whether race (0 = nonminority; 1 = minority) could have some influence on an officer's decision to make an arrest. Then, you ask whether seriousness of the traffic offense influences the outcome of arrest (0 = minor; 1= severe). The hypothetical data (n = 35) are presented in the table below. You set your alpha level at 0.05.
$$\begin{array} { c c c c c c c c } \text { Case } & \text { Arrest } & \text { Race } & \text { Seriousness } & \text { Case } & \text { Arrest } & \text { Race } & \text { Seriousness } \\1 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 19 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\2 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 20 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\3 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 21 & 1 & 0 & 1 \\4 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 22 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\5 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 23 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\6 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 24 & 0 & 0 & 1 \\7 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 25 & 1 & 1 & 1 \\8 & 0 & 0 & 1 & 26 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\9 & 0 & 1 & 0 & 27 & 1 & 1 & 1 \\10 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 28 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\11 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 29 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\12 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 30 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\13 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 31 & 0 & 0 & 1 \\14 & 1 & 1 & 0 & 32 & 1 & 1 & 0 \\15 & 1 & 0 & 1 & 33 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\16 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 35 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\17 & 0 & 0 & 0 & 35 & 0 & 0 & 1 \\18 & 0 & 1 & 0 & & & &\end{array}$$
a. Organize your data in a table and then identify the IV and DV.
b. State your null and alternative hypotheses.
c. Compute the degrees of freedom.
d. State your decision rule using the chi square table.
e. Compute chi square (χ²).
f. Make your decision and interpret your findings.