Findings

Findings 

This study’s research question is, “Do family fun time activities help engage families in more family involvement?” The dependent variable for this research was family involvement which was measured on a zero to ten scale (0-10). The independent variable for this study is income which was measured by seven answer choices that were split into different annual income groups. The answer choices for the independent variable were then recoded so that there were two groups of income: low income (<$30,999) and high income (>$31,000). The findings in the following paper show whether or not the annual amount of income a family had affected the amount of family involvement within the family. Throughout this paper, there are three different statistical tables that assist in directly answering the research question that was asked. The following tables will be provided: Independent Sample T-test, ANOVA, and Chi-squared. Table 1 will refer to the Independent Sample T-test, Table 2 will refer to the ANOVA test, and Table 3 will refer to the Chi-squared test. 

Independent Sample T-Test

Table 1. Independent samples t-test of family involvement by income

Mean of Family Involvement t statisticdf 
<$30,9996.75-.2069.54
>$31,0006.90

Note. p<.05*, p<.01**, p<.001***

Table 1 provides the mean parent involvement for respondents that made less than $30,999 and more than $31,000. For the independent same t-test, instead of having all seven different annual income ranges, they were recoded into two groups. The original variables were less than $10,000, $10,000-$30,999, $31,000-$50,999, $51,000-$70,999, $71,000-$90,999, $91,000 or more, and prefer not to answer. The dependent variable for this table is family involvement while the independent variable is income. The mean family involvement for families with an income of <$30,000 was 6.75 out of 10 while the mean family involvement for families with an income of >$31,000 was 6.90 out of 10. These means are not significantly different when generalized to the population, and the t statistics is -.20. The table also shows that the degree of freedom is 69.54. 

ANOVA

Table 2. ANOVA by Family Income

IncomeMean of Income F-value
Low Income6.750.9209
High Income7.60

Note. p<.05*, p<.01**, p<.001***

Table 2 shows the means of income for both low-income and high-income after having run an ANOVA test. The dependent variable for this ANOVA is family involvement while the independent variable is income. This ANOVA test found that the mean of family involvement of those of low income is 6.75 out of 10. This test also found that the mean family involvement of those who are in high-income families is 7.60 out of 10. According to the results of this ANOVA test, the f-value is 0.9209 and these means are not significantly different at the .05 level.

Chi-Squared

Table 3. Chi-squared of parent involvement by income

InvolvementLow IncomeHigh IncomeTotal
Low Involvement448
Moderate InvolvementHigh InvolvementChi-Square161241220244.68

Note. p<.05*, p<.01**, p<.001***

Table 3 provides how involved parents were in the activities based on their income (low-income or high-income). The following table indicates family involvement based on income and provides the chi-square. The dependent variable for this table is family involvement while the independent variable is income: low income and high income. Family involvement was measured on a zero to ten (0-10) scale, respondents were then placed into levels of involvement: low involvement, moderate involvement, and high involvement. The chi-square was 4.68, which is not significant.

Conclusion 

The research question,  “Do family fun time activities help engage families in more family involvement?”, was tested and provided in three different tables. The following data told us that family involvement is not drastically different because of a family’s race. The difference in means of income did not appear to be that different from one another. Based on the above three tables, it is difficult to clearly state whether or not income affects the family involvement that occurred when completing the activities that were sent home with students at the Andy Taylor Center and Head Start.