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I was just wondering if  I was interpreting my findings correctly.


I am evaluating a treatment on a group of children. the class teachers
completed the strengths and difficulties questionnaire on the same group of
children at time 1(T1) and time 2 (T2)

When I initially interpreted the paired sample T-test, I was able to compare
the means, and make assumptions as to whether the treatment produced an
improvement or not.



For the Wilcoxon test, I have the medians. My difficulty is that for
example, the hyperactivity scale

Scores from 0-5 are in the normal band, scores of 6 are borderline and
scores that ranged from 7-10 are abnormal.



I’m finding it difficult to determine whether the conclusions I was able to
make from the paired T-test will be the same for the Wilcox test. ( I did
not check for normality, thus, now having to use the Wilcoxon test)


So for example,

For the hyperactivity scale for the paired t-test I found: (T1= time1 and T2
=time 2)

   1. There was a significant difference in the hyperactivity scores for T1
   (M=3.56, SD=2.473) and T2 (M=1.84, SD=2.156); t (74) =7.670, p<0.05.

I then stated that: These results suggest that the treatment produced a
significant improvement in the hyperactivity scale scores at T2. (I looked
at the means for this, even though there was a decline, using the
information above about the band scoring it suggested that there was an
improvement) is this correct?

However, how do I make similar conclusions using medians?

For example the prosocial behaviour score band is as follows: 6-10 for
normal, 5 =borderline  and 0-4 is considered abnormal.




below is the beginning of my draft for the write up section.

A test of normality reveals (see Appendix a) that the data was not normally
distributed, except for the hyperactivity scale at T1 for the
Kolmogorov-Smirnov test but not for the Shapiro-Wilk test. For this reason a
non- parametric test was used.

A Wilcoxon T- test was carried out to compare the T1 scores to the T2 scores
on the five SDQ scales and the total difficulties scores.



Table1 : Wilcoxon Signed Ranks for the five SDQ scales and the total
difficulties scores at T1 and T2.





N

Mean Rank

Sum of Ranks

Pro Social Scale at Time 1 - Pro Social Scale at Time 2

Negative Ranks

37a

30.38

1124.00

Positive Ranks

19b

24.84

472.00

Ties

19c





Total

75





Hyperactivity Scale at Time 1 - Hyperactivity Scale at Time 2

Negative Ranks

5d

21.50

107.50

Positive Ranks

52e

29.72

1545.50

Ties

18f





Total

75





Conduct Problems Scale at Time 1 - Conduct Problems Scale at Time 2

Negative Ranks

12g

19.83

238.00

Positive Ranks

25h

18.60

465.00

Ties

38i





Total

75





Emotional Symptoms Scale at Time 1 - Emotional Symptoms Scale at Time 2

Negative Ranks

10j

18.85

188.50

Positive Ranks

34k

23.57

801.50

Ties

31l





Total

75





Peer Problems Scale at Time 1 - Peer Problems Scale at Time 2

Negative Ranks

12m

26.58

319.00

Positive Ranks

40n

26.48

1059.00

Ties

23o





Total

75





Total SDQ score at Time 1 - Total SDQ score at Time 2

Negative Ranks

8p

34.12

273.00

Positive Ranks

62q

35.68

2212.00

Ties

5r





Total

75











*Table 2: Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test*



Pro Social Scale at Time 1 - Pro Social Scale at Time 2

Hyperactivity Scale at Time 1 - Hyperactivity Scale at Time 2

Conduct Problems Scale at Time 1 - Conduct Problems Scale at Time 2

Emotional Symptoms Scale at Time 1 - Emotional Symptoms Scale at Time 2

Peer Problems Scale at Time 1 - Peer Problems Scale at Time 2

Total SDQ score at Time 1 - Total SDQ score at Time 2

Z

-2.685a

-5.755b

-1.735b

-3.615b

-3.467b

-5.687b

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)

.007

.000

.083

.000

.001

.000



a.       Based on negative ranks

b.      Based on positive ranks



A Wilcox Signed Rank Test revealed that:

*Am I correct in my interpretation here???*

There was a significant difference in the pro-social behaviour scale scores
for T1 and T2, Z=-2.685, p=0.07. The median score on the pro-social
behaviour scale has decreased from T1 (Md=30.38) to T2 (Md=24.84). The
results suggest that the treatment produced a significant difference in the
pro-social behaviour scale scores. However, *they were better at T1 than at
T2.*



There was a significant difference in the hyperactivity scale for T1 and T2,
Z=-5.755, p<0.05. The median score on the hyperactivity scale has increased
from T1 (Md=21.50) to T2 (Md=29.72).  These results suggest that NA produced
a significant improvement in the hyperactivity scale scores and that at T2.




Hope my questions make sense and that you are able to help!