A marriage counselor is interested in the proportion of clients she counsels who stay married.
The correct answer and explanation is :
The marriage counselor is interested in the proportion of clients who stay married after counseling. To determine this, she would typically collect data on the clients she has counseled and track their marital outcomes.
The appropriate statistical measure to use in this case is the proportion or percentage of clients who remain married after counseling. This is represented as:
[
\text{Proportion of clients staying married} = \frac{\text{Number of clients who stay married}}{\text{Total number of clients counseled}}
]
If the counselor has data for a specific number of clients who received counseling, she can calculate this proportion by dividing the number of clients who remained married by the total number of clients who received counseling. For instance, if the counselor worked with 100 clients, and 75 of them stayed married, the proportion would be:
[
\frac{75}{100} = 0.75 \quad \text{or} \quad 75\%
]
This means that 75% of the clients who received counseling remained married.
Explanation:
- Data Collection: To compute the proportion, the counselor needs data on clients who have completed counseling. The counselor would track whether these clients remain married or separate after a specific period (e.g., one year, two years).
- Calculation of Proportion: Once the data is collected, the counselor can calculate the proportion of clients who stay married using the formula provided above. This proportion gives a clear, quantitative measure of success in terms of marital outcomes.
- Statistical Interpretation: The resulting proportion allows the counselor to assess the effectiveness of the counseling. A higher proportion suggests the counseling is helping couples maintain their marriages, while a lower proportion may indicate that the counseling approach needs improvement or that other factors beyond counseling play a significant role in marital stability.
- Limitations: While this proportion gives valuable insight into the counselor’s work, it is important to note that marital outcomes are influenced by various factors, such as individual circumstances, external support systems, and the length of the marriage before counseling. Hence, the counselor should be cautious about attributing outcomes solely to the counseling process.