Findings
Independent Samples T-test, ANOVA, and Chi-squared tests of three statistical tests will be used to draw findings. For this study the dependent variable is parent involvement. The item from the questionnaire that was used to operationalize this was “How much was your family involved in the activity?”. The answer choices for this item were on a “scale from 0-10. 0 being not at all and 10 being a great amount.” The independent variable for this study is parent/guardian involvement. The item for the questionnaire that was used to operationalize this was how much did your family enjoy this activity. The answer choices for this item was a scale from 0-10, 0 being no enjoyment at all, 10 being highly enjoyed. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze these variables. First we will take a look at Table 1 which discusses the independent samples t-test.
Table 1.
Independent sample t test of parent involvement by
| Mean Parent Involvement | t | DF | |
| Head Start | 7.13 | -4.66*** | 70.37 |
| Andy Taylor Center | 9.67 |
Note. p<.05*, p<.01**, p<.001***
You must first recode variables into just two or three categories in order to analyze an independent samples t-test. The mean parent involvement score for head start families was 7,13 out of 10 and the mean parent involvement score for Andy Taylor center families was 9.67 out of 10. the t-test value was -4.66 and it is significant at the .001 level. Therefore the mean parent involvement is significantly different. Now we take a look at Table 2 which discusses the ANOVA.
Table 2.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of child engagement by parental involvement.
| Engagement | Low income | F-Value |
| Not Engaged | 6.8 | 8.841 |
| Engaged | 9.8 | |
| Note. p<.05*,p<.01**,p<.001*** |
An ANOVA also requires variables to be recoded. The dependent variable for this ANOVA is engagement of the child. Engagement of the family was measured on a scale from 1 to 10. While the independent variable for this ANOVA is parental involvement. Parental involvement was measured through various amounts of time spent on the emotional flip-book activity which was then recoded into two groups, “between groups” and “within groups.” According to the ANOVA results, The mean parent engagement score for between groups was 6.8 out of 10 and the mean parent engagement score for between groups-families was 2.012 out of 10. The F-value was 8.841 and it is significant at the .05 level. Therefore, the mean parent involvement is significantly different. Lastly, we will take a look at table 3 which discusses chi-square.
Table 3.
Chi-squared of parent engagement by parent involvement
| Engagement | Low income High Income | Total |
| Not Engaged | 4 4 | 8 |
| Engaged Chi Square | 28 16 | 44 0.11172* |
| Note. p<.05*,p<.01**,p<.001*** |
From our initial variables of “parent engagement” and “Family engagement,” these have been recoded into two categories for each. The dependent variable for this chi-square was the parent involvement. This was asked through the responses of “Not Engaged” and “Engaged”. The independent variable for this chi-square was family engagement. There were 44 total responses for families reporting being engaged with their children, while only eight families reported as being not engaged with their child. The chi-squared value was 0.11172 and it is significant at the .05 level. Therefore, the number of parents engaged vs not engaged is significantly different.
Conclusion
The research question that’s being asked, “Did parent involvement have a significant impact on family engagement for family fun time activities?” This study was able to uncover a partially definitive answer. From what the the three statistical tests has shown us, is that parent involvement in relation to family engagement is significantly different. Therefore this leads us to thinking that having parental involvement in their child’s activities, families will most likely be engaged with the family fun-time activity. More families felt more engaged than not engaged regardless of involvement. The sample size is this study’s biggest shortcoming. Since even a minor difference makes an impact, it might not be applicable to everyday life. For this sample size, a difference in family engagement from 8 to 10 is sizable; but, if this was applicable to a larger population size, the change would not be as apparent.