Data Analysis Using Epi InfoTM Descriptive Analysis

In Week Two, you were asked to review the YRBS questionnaire and code to determine which topic you would like to utilize for your Final Paper that is due in Week Six. You also conducted a literature review and completed an annotated bibliography for your selected topic. This week, you will use our class topic of “cigarette smoking and marijuana use” to conduct data analysis on three research questions. For this week’s assignment, you will focus on running frequencies, determining prevalence estimates, and assessing whether these estimates are statistically significant among different groups. Upon completion of this assignment, you will be able to utilize these same data analysis skills with regard to the topic you choose for your Final Paper.

Epi InfoTM 7:
Download the Epi InfoTM 7 software from the CDC website. The file will download as Epi_Info_7.zip and you will be prompted to save the .zip file. It should save to your “Downloads” folder on your computer. From your “Downloads” folder, click the Epi_Info_7.zip file and “extract” the files to a location on your computer that you can easily find. You may want to create a special folder for this file in your “My Documents” folder. You can then click the Launch Epi Info 7 icon that has been extracted to launch the program (this icon could also be copied to your desktop for easy access). A separate Internet window will open up with the software’s start page. We will use the “Visual Dashboard” for this class. You may review the Introducing Epi InfoTM 7 Tutorial Video for a demonstration of the software or contact the Epi InfoTM 7 Help Desk for support questions.
YRBS Data:

Now that you are familiar with the background on the YRBS from last week’s assignment, visit the CDC’s Data Files & Methods web page to download the 2011 National High School YRBS Data Files. Click the link for Access File under the “Access®” category for the year 2011. You will be prompted to either open or save the YRBS2011.zip file and you should save this file to a location on your computer that you can easily find. Once the file is saved, click the YRBS2011.zip file and right click, selecting Extract All. The files will extract to the same location on your computer. You will need to upload this data into the Epi InfoTM 7 software to complete the assignment below.

When analyzing a data set using statistical software packages, it is important that you become familiar with the codebook. The codebook provides details on the variables within the data set. It includes information on how the questions were asked in the study, whether the data that is presented in the dataset is nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio data, and the basic frequency numbers of the data set. Review and download the 2011 YRBS Data User’s Guide (codebook) and review the 2011 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey questionnaire to become familiar with the data variables and survey questions. Sometimes when you review the codebook (User’s Guide) and compare it to the survey, you can determine if some of the data was recoded into a more “user-friendly” variable. This will be explored further in Week Four’s assignment.

Assignment Instructions:
Utilize the Epi InfoTM 7 Quick Start Guide, v.0.2.2 as a resource to complete the tasks below.

First, you will need to upload your data and save the canvas file:
Launch the Epi InfoTM 7 program and, from the Menu screen, select Visual Dashboard.

From the Visual Dashboard, you will be prompted to “Set a Data Source” by clicking either the white arrow within the blue pop-up box or by clicking on Set Data Source in the top left-hand corner of the dashboard.

A new window titled “Select Data Source” will pop-up, change the “Database Type” to Microsoft Access 2002-2003 (.mdb) using the drop down menu.

Click the square button next to the “Data Source” line, a new window titled “Open Microsoft Access File” will pop-up. Click the square button next to the “Database file name” line, and then locate and select the 2011 YRBS data that you saved earlier. Click OK.

In the “Select Data Source” screen, highlight the XXHq file in the “Data Source Explorer” box. Click OK.

From the blank canvas screen, click Save As at the top of the navigation toolbar. Save this canvas within a folder or location on your computer where you can easily access it.

Next, you will run frequency tabulations for select variables:

Right click on the blank center canvas screen, hover over the “Add Analysis Gadget” and select Frequency from the menu.

The “Frequency” tool box will pop up within the canvas. Select the first variable from the list (q1) from the “Frequency of” selection box, and then click Run. A frequency table will appear on the canvas that contains the statistical data for this variable.

Complete Steps numbers 7 and 8 for each of the following variables: ?
Age (q1)

Gender (q2)

Grade (q3)

Race (RACEETH)

Cigarette smoking (qn31)

Marijuana (qn48)

Once you have a frequency table for each variable, you can export the output to Excel by right-clicking with your mouse cursor on the table itself. From Excel, copy and paste each table output that you have created into one tab within the same Excel file. The tab should be labeled Wk3_Frequency. Save the entire Excel file as Firstname_Lastname_Week 3_Assignment.

Then, you will complete cross-tabulations using the MxN/2×2 table feature:

In the same Epi InfoTM 7 canvas that you made the frequency tables, right click on the blank center canvas screen, hover over the “Add Analysis Gadget,” and select MxN/2×2 from the menu.
Use the “MxN/2×2” gadget window to determine what percentage of students use marijuana by gender, race, grade, age, and smoking status.

Export the output to Excel by right-clicking with your mouse cursor on the table itself. From Excel, copy and paste each table output that you have created into one tab within the same Excel file. The tab should be labeled Wk3_2x2 Tables.

Next, using the “Data Filters” feature on the right side of the dashboard (it slides out when the mouse is placed over the title) along with the “MxN/2×2” table analysis gadget, complete the following analyses:

Determine the prevalence of male and females that use marijuana and cigarette smoking. Is there a statistical difference between male and females?

Determine the prevalence of marijuana and cigarette smoking by grade, race and age. Are they statistically different?

Export the output to Excel by right-clicking with your mouse cursor on the table itself. From Excel, copy and paste each table output that you have created into a new tab labeled Wk3_2x2 Tables_Step14 within the same Firstname_Lastname_Week 3_Assignment Excel file.

Finally, summarize your results and address the following:
Describe your sample population

Is the sample is equally distributed?

Are there any statistical differences within groups?

Are there any statistical differences between groups?

Summarize and explain the differences with the odds ratio and other pertinent data as it relates to your data analysis.
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