Suppose you were in a Methods or Statistics class in which you had to design
a study, create the materials, collect some of the data, and then use the
data from this partial sample to simulate or fill in fictitious data for the
rest of the sample.
Let's say, for example, that you've collected scores on self-esteem and body
image instruments from 10 college men and 10 college women, and you want to
use those data as the basis for generating fake data for 40 more women and
40 more men. The data will then be analyzed for correlations between the
measures and differences between men and women on each measure and on the
correlations.
One thread, of course, might be to discuss why anyone would want to do this.
Let's assume for the moment that it's done for good reasons. What I am
interested in is, how would you go about simulating the data?
*****
Nathalie Coté
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Belmont Abbey College
100 Belmont - Mt. Holly Road
Belmont, NC 28012
(704) 825-6754
