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1. Explain the concept of random assignment in experimental design and why it is important

Random assignment is the procedure of randomly assigning the participants to an experimental group. It used in the experimental design to create multiple study groups that consist of participants with similar characteristics. Random assignment ensures that the groups under the study are equivalent right from the beginning. The assumption when using random assignment is that the probability of some peculiarity occurring in one group is similar to the probability of it occurring in another group. Random assignment is important helps protect the researcher from the problems of confounding variables and competing explanations. Confounding variables are the correlated predictors that are included in a statistical model that have a significant influence on analysis results.

Since it is impossible to know the relevant variables to include in the experiment, it is important to use random assignment. The use of random assignment creates an even playing field that ensures that groups only differ in their respective assignments. At the end of the research study, a researcher can attribute any changes observed to individual groups by observing and collecting information about individuals at the beginning. This way, random assignment ensures that the researcher has more confidence that any changes that occur do not arise from characteristics of the group but due to the experiment under study.

2. Ways a survey might be designed so as to maximize respondents’ comfort with personal questions.

As a survey researcher, it is critical to provide all answers to the study. However, not all respondents are willing to respond to questions particularly when the questions require the respondent to provide personal or sensitive information. There are various techniques that a researcher might use when designing a survey so as to maximize respondents comfort with personal questions. For example, the researcher might consider conducting an anonymous Survey. With this type of survey, information may not necessarily be linked to a specific person. The respondents can be comfortable enough to provide personal information in this type of survey since their identity remains anonymous.

Secondly, the researcher may consider asking non-Personal Questions First. The researcher can use the technique to build trust with the respondent before progressing through the survey. When the respondents get to know more and about the research, they may feel less imposed by personal questions. Thirdly, the researcher may express Confidentiality by clearly stating the level of confidentiality and security that the respondent information will be. The researcher can do this through an introductory statement that explains how respondents’ feedback will be kept in strict confidence.

Thirdly, the researcher can introduce himself by composing a well-written statement at the beginning of the survey that details the importance of the respondents’ personal information to the survey. The statement can explain the reason for the personal information and how it contributes to the study. The understanding of the necessity of the information increases the chances of getting a positive response. Also, a researcher should limit questions requiring personal information to only those that are more significant to the study. When personal information is not necessary, the researcher should avoid collecting the information.

3. A newspaper reports from a survey that college students study on average seven hours a week for their classes. Identify the statistics and any other information that you would want to know from this survey before making generalizations about the student population at large, and explain why.

There are various statistics and information that may influence the generalization of results from a study. By using the central limit theorem, the sample should be representative of the population from which it is drawn. The greater the desired generalization, the more representative the sample should be. The second information that would be necessary is the types of statistical tests that have been conducted on the results. A statistical test is important in determining the significance level to see the consistency of data with the null hypothesis. It is also necessary to look at the correlation and regression to see the degree of relationship that exists between the variables.

4. What statistics covered in this chapter (Ch. 6 and Ch. 7) would you consider essential for reporting the results of your research project, and why?

Inferential statistics and descriptive statistics are essential when reporting the results of a research project. It is necessary to provide information about our group of data but also necessary to make generalizations about a particular population from which the samples are drawn. From chapter 6, we can see that Descriptive statistics can provide valuable information about the immediate group of data. They give us a lot more in depth data about the sample under the study. However, sampling allows us to only select a representative number from the population. The procedure of a study does not allow us to access the whole population that we are interested in investigating. Unfortunately, it is impossible to go beyond our set of data by using descriptive statistics alone. Inferential statistics is important to help generalize our results to the whole population. This way, we can be able to confirm our hypothesis more easily when using a limited number from the population.

5. Advantages and disadvantages of semantic differential scales in human communication

The semantic differential Measurement scales provide a bipolar adjective for the respondents to choose along a form of scaling. The scale has the capability of examining the strengths and weaknesses of a concept by using the respondent’s ranking. The means of these responses can then be calculated and then plotted or calculated to profile. One advantage of the Semantic Differential question scale is that it allows the semantic differential to measure directionality and intensity. The great number of response can lead to a deeper cognitive processing that in turn should increase response times. It becomes easier to assign numbers to and make a summary statement about their response. It provides a more valid and multi-dimensional method of scaling.

3. The National Reading Panel (NRP) has proposed five essential components of a balanced reading instruction. Be able to list and discuss the five components. P.273

According to the NRP, there are five major components that students need in order to be able to learn how to read. These components are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. The first two components deal with having an insight of the letters and sounds used during pronunciation. Phonemic awareness is necessary when reading. The sounds that people use in communication exist independently of the words formed by the same sounds. Every student must learn to differentiate between words and sounds having the understanding that each sound has its meaning. In addition, sounds are not only found in words, but also in other forms.
On the other hand, phonics helps students to learn the relationship between the letters used in the written language and the sounds used in the spoken language. Therefore, they need to know about the letters formed from the sounds and that each letter has a particular sound. The benefit of understanding phonics is that it helps students know how sounds interrelate in the formation of words. At some instances, letters like vowels may appear the same, but their sounds are different depending on the use.

Fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension are useful in explaining how letters combine to form words and sentences. Fluency is applicable in combining letters to make fluent words. It ensures that all the sounds making up the words have interrelationships, such that they do not have separate sounds. Vocabulary is a list of defined words used in a certain language. It is important for students to learn the sounds that make certain words, but may remain less helpful if they don’t know their meaning. The steps used in vocabulary are; knowing words, and then the message they portray. Once a student understands phonics and phonetics and then applies the two steps in vocabulary, they acquire the skills of text comprehension. Text comprehension helps students to know how to combine words that portray certain meaning. The message portrayed by the combined words may be different to that of each separate word within a sentence. The key thing is having an insight of the meaning of the sentences formed for them to relay a certain message to the reader.

4. Explain why the acquisition of reading is more difficult for children who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing? (Will need to be specific and state factual information) P.305

A majority of the deaf and hard of hearing students; experience challenges in the five components of learning and reading. Most of them do not show further progress in language from the 4th-grade level. English is not the first language for the deaf since they use a signed language for laying the foundation for language development. Thus, challenges to the use of spoken language are inevitable. There are significant differences between the sign and the spoken languages. For instance, reading takes a different form to that of the signed language. In addition, there are no alphabetical words in the signed language does. Instead, words have particular symbols and meanings that are all different from one another. It is very challenging to have an alphabet for them unlike those using the spoken language. Hearing challenge makes it very hard to know the sounds that make up the words. The only alternative to the problem is learning how to master the movement of the lips when one speaks.

Deaf students have a different way of having an insight of the alphabet. Due to the difficulty in making sounds, learning new words takes a longer time than their counterparts. A greater challenge to the deaf students arises when dealing with a hard text. Their comprehending level has limitations to only the simple words and stories. It is due to the way that they speak and combine words in their signed language that is different from the spoken language. After the fourth grade, the language and inferential demands increase thereby posing challenges to the deaf children. They also lack the cognitive ability to relate things to their correct contexts for easy understanding of the meaning. The introduction to learning a language is essential since it creates variations in the way deaf students learn how to sound and know words. Therefore, many of them shy away from reading. In addition, they have to strive in language reading for them to be effective as their peers. The underlying fact is that deaf students have to know the alphabetical concept for them to read effectively. Thus, they have to embrace it despite the challenges that they have to face.

5. Reading materials beyond third-grade level requires what skills: (pg. 305) you will need to list the skills and explain why those skills are difficult for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students.

The skills and knowledge required in reading materials above third grade are different to that of the lower grades. The two skills are passage specific knowledge and having the knowledge of specific information. Passage specific knowledge requires students to understand the different concepts that are specific to the passage. In addition, students have to understand the message portrayed by the passage through reading and understanding the words in it. When students can effectively know how to sound out words used in a passage, they feel comfortable when reading them. It helps them in making sense of what they read by linking the ideas back to their cognitive development and what they portray in reality. It is always challenging for the deaf students to relate their experiences to what they read. It is because their experiences are different to those of their counterparts using the spoken language. Most of the stories available for use in school have real life experiences, but the same lacks for the deaf students. Their abilities to make inferences from what they read are different. Thus, assuming and having a clear picture of the readings is a challenge to most of them especially when the meaning is not vivid. They have limitations in understanding the meaning of the stories they read due to the lack of real experiences like the group using the spoken language.

Students also require having the knowledge of the specific information portrayed in a passage as the second skill. It is essential that students understand specific details derived from the broad passage. It helps in narrowing down to a specific idea other than concentrating on the whole issue. Students require knowing the words that make up a story for them to understand it in whole. It does not matter, whether one reads it or not, because the failure of understanding the words make it difficult to understand the whole story. It is challenging for the deaf students since they do not easily understand the words for lack of life experiences and knowledge. For the deaf students, combining the specific topics that make up a story is hard. Due to the lack of adequate information about the topic at hand, they find it hard to understand the story, and the difficulty in understanding the words used aggravates it further. The only way of getting most out of a story is seeking for additional ways of gaining the information. The deaf students have to translate everything to the sign language for easy understanding of the concepts discussed.

6. List and describe the five stages of writing. Explain why it is difficult for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students acquire the English written language. P.330

Planning, composing, revising, editing and formal sharing are the five main stages in writing.
The first stage is planning which involves proposing a topic and strategizing on how to write about it. The key consideration in planning is the writing style to use and the selection of the main issues to discuss the topic.

The next step involves composing. It is the preliminary stages of beginning to write. Thus, the student can develop a rough draft that will form the basis for the other work. The rough draft will only serve as a guideline to the other sections.

Next is the revising stage. The student has to have the assurance that the work written will portray the intended meaning to the audience. The information presented has to be relevant to the topic and substantive.

Editing is the next step, and it ensures that the work is devoid of errors. Among the issues checked is the grammatical errors and fluency in the ideas.

Formal sharing comes after the writer validates the work; and ensures that it can serve as a source of information to others.

Deaf students face a lot of challenges in writing because they have to apply a skill that they are not conversant. Speaking and writing are interrelated, but the deaf use the sign language other than the spoken language. It is challenging for the deaf since the words used in writing are not the same as what they use in their sign language. The design of the sign language is different to the spoken language. The issues of composing sentences by combining words are difficult and full of grammatical errors for the deaf students.

For the deaf students to write, they have first to relate their sign language with the words found in the alphabet. The alphabet is not a common tool in the sign language, hence challenging. They have to incorporate a lot of reasoning before they write since they have to remember extra words than those used when speaking. In addition, combining the words to form meaningful sentences is a challenge for them. Therefore, most of the work they produce after writing is not easy to understand due to the many challenges. It cannot clearly portray the intended meaning, hence finds it hard to share the work with others.