Is the Mediterranean diet superior to a low-fat diet recommended by the American Heart Association?
The null hypothesis for the question
The null hypothesis to be tested is: “There are no statistically significant differences in the Mediterranean diet superior to a low-fat diet recommended by the American Heart Association .”
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The statistical test used to answer it
The quantitative data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics, ( Fraenkel, Wallen, & Hyun, 2011) . The descriptive statistics were used to describe and summarize the data in the form of tables, frequencies, and percentages. The inferential statistics were used to help make inferences and draw conclusions. Statistical tests including bivariate categorical tests (Chi-Square test) were used to test the hypotheses, ( Landis, & Koch, 1977) . The bivariate table was designed to organize the significant relationship between two variables. Therefore, given that the Chi-Square test is useful in categorical data, there is no manipulation of the independent variable because the event of interest, or the dependent variable, has already occurred.
Calculating the Chi-Square test statistic.
|
Diet Recommendation * Outcome Crosstabulation |
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|
Outcome |
Total |
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|
Cancer |
Deaths |
Nonfatal illness |
Healthy |
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| Diet Recommendation | AHA | Count |
15 |
24 |
25 |
239 |
303 |
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| % within Diet Recommendation |
5.0% |
7.9% |
8.3% |
78.9% |
100.0% |
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| % within Outcome |
68.2% |
63.2% |
75.8% |
46.7% |
50.1% |
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| % of Total |
2.5% |
4.0% |
4.1% |
39.5% |
50.1% |
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| Mediterranean | Count |
7 |
14 |
8 |
273 |
302 |
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| % within Diet Recommendation |
2.3% |
4.6% |
2.6% |
90.4% |
100.0% |
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| % within Outcome |
31.8% |
36.8% |
24.2% |
53.3% |
49.9% |
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| % of Total |
1.2% |
2.3% |
1.3% |
45.1% |
49.9% |
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| Total | Count |
22 |
38 |
33 |
512 |
605 |
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| % within Diet Recommendation |
3.6% |
6.3% |
5.5% |
84.6% |
100.0% |
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| % within Outcome |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
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| % of Total |
3.6% |
6.3% |
5.5% |
84.6% |
100.0% |
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|
Chi-Square Tests |
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|
Value |
df |
Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) |
|
| Pearson Chi-Square |
16.554 a |
3 |
.001 |
| Likelihood Ratio |
17.091 |
3 |
.001 |
| Linear-by-Linear Association |
11.071 |
1 |
.001 |
| N of Valid Cases |
605 |
||
| a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 10.98. | |||
Results and conclusion
From the cross-tabulation analysis, it is evidenced that the percentages significantly vary between the variables, but the relationship is not identified . The Chi-Square test indicates a value of 16.554 with an associated p ( true ) value of .001.
Because the test is significant and below the .05 threshold, there is a need to reject the null hypothesis that there is no relationship. In other words, there are a statistically significant difference in the Mediterranean diet superior to a low-fat diet recommended by the American Heart Association . Therefore, the study is in agreement to the findings by (De Longerill , et, al, 1998) who confirmed that the Mediterranean diet is superior to a low-fat diet recommended by the American Heart Association .
In conclusion, through this course, I have learned general applications of statistical data in research. The fact that there were several examples while undertaking the course has given me adequate ground to showcase my analytical skills when it comes to data analysis.
As a community college athletic director, I look forward to major in data analysis so that I can develop modeling for interpretation for action within the organization .
References
Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2011). How to design and evaluate research in education . New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.
Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics , 159-174.
De Longerill, M., Salen, P., Martin, J., Monjaud, I., Boucher, P., Mamelle, N. (1998). Mediterranean Dietary pattern in a Randomized Trial. Archives of Internal Medicine, 158, 1181-1187.
