Session Long Assignment
Module 4
Inferential Statistics
For this module of your SLP, you can use an article you used in a previous module's SLP paper, or choose a different one. The article must be no more than 5 years old. The article must include one or more of the inferential statistical procedures that you learned about in this module (that is, a t-test or ANOVA).
Begin by providing the reference for the article, in proper format.
Write an introductory paragraph that includes a reminder of what your topic is.
Introduce and briefly describe the study in one paragraph.
Then identify the following: 1. Null and alternative hypothesis 2. Sampling procedures 3. Independent and Dependent Variable/s 4. Alpha level 5. Outcome (significant results, or fail to reject null hypothesis)
What 2 questions would you like to ask the researcher about the results?
If you were designing your own study about this topic, what would your independent variable be?
What would your dependent variable be? What would you expect to find?
Reference:

Todd, S. (2010). Traumatic Stress as a Predictor of Suicidality. Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

Topic: Since the start of the war on terror in 2001, prolonged exposure to combat related stress has been one of the main concerns in our military. Concerns have been most recently centered on two combat-related injuries in particular: post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Many recent reports have referred to these as the signature wounds of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. With the increasing incidence of suicide and suicide attempts among returning veterans, concern about depression is also on the rise. The study aims to review the significant influence of traumatic stress as a predictor of suicidality.
Null and Alternative Hypothesis: Null Hypothesis – Traumatic events can be a predictor for suicidality Alternative Hypothesis – Traumatic events cannot be a predictor for suicidality
Sampling Procedures: Simple Random Sampling (SRS) was used to select the participants. The population came from the ninth grade Health and Physical Education course. Participation for the Signs of Suicide Prevention was voluntary and the data collected came from five schools. Age range were 13-18 years old. Total of 1983 participants.
Independent and Dependent Variables: Independent Variable – traumatic stress event Dependent Variable – suicidality identification
Alpha Level = 0.5 Findings:

A total of 401 students were identified as possibly at risk for depression or suicide and 387 of those students were individually screened. Approximately 20% of the 1,983 students, who participated in the program scored as possibly at risk for depression or suicide on the Brief Screen for Adolescent Depression (BSAD). Those students were then individually interviewed by a counselor or mental health professional and composed the sample group.
Questions:
Among the participants that were at risk of committing suicide, what is their average level of trauma? In addition, how can the findings of the study enhance the suicide prevention efforts in the United States? If I were designing my own study, I would use exposure to blast-related Traumatic Brain Injury as my independent variable and I would use the suicidality of military members, and veterans as my dependent variable. Honestly, there isn’t much research within the last five years that has a solid statistical evidence that can prove the importance of early detection of suicidality and treatment in order to decrease the prevalence of suicide in the military. I would try to wok on this research question as a move forward to my career as a health care professional and researcher.