Project
Ideas for Questions to consider:
Your project should attempt to answer a statistical question by using a hypothesis test (we learn about these starting in Chapter 8). Consider one of the following questions. Population parameters that we'll study are Proportion and Mean.
Is the true population parameter (greater, less or equal to) some value that we think it is?
Is the true population parameter of one group (greater, less or equal to) the population parameter of another group? (This works if you're comparing data on men & women, or different age groups, or some other pair of attributes - only PAIRs, though. For more than 2, see the last question.)
If you have data over time, does the data follow some pattern?
If you have data with two attributes (for example, height and weight), is there a pattern?
If you have data that you can compare to another kind of data (Example: state data vs national data), do they have the same pattern?
If you have more than two populations, are the population means the same or is one different from the others?
Once you determine a question, try to locate a data set that has the data for that parameter in the topic you're interested in. This is the trickiest part; you may have to adjust your question based on the data set you find. If you need help, reach out.
If you find other useful data sets, please let me know!
Requirements:
Assignments throughout the semester will have you doing these things in your groups:
Your project will be using an existing data set. This is to avoid collecting data, which can take some time. We will focus on the analysis of data. (If you're headed to Research Methods PSYC 25, you'll get to collect data.)
Once you determine your data set, you should create some descriptive graphs - bar graph, pie chart, time series graph, whatever you think is an appropriate graph to summarize the data. Work with your group members to create the graphs and determine which ones best describe the data. Use technology - Google Sheets or MS Excel. Identify what type of data you're studying (qualitative, quantitative discrete, quantitative continuous, and level(s) of measurement) (Chapters 1-2)
Calculate some statistics - mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, variance for at least one variable in your data set. Use technology - Google Sheets or MS Excel. (Chapters 3, 5, 6)
Do some research - find out some background information to put your question and your data in some context - help us (other classmates) understand more about the situation and why you chose this topic.
Create a confidence interval estimate of a population proportion, mean, or difference. (Ch 6, ch 9)
Perform a minimum of one appropriate inferential statistical test - hypothesis test, regression, goodness of fit, or ANOVA. (Chapters 8-11).
Final Product:
A powerpoint/slide presentation, a video, a website, a paper, or other "published" product containing the items above in a narrative or presentation form will be your submission. If you have a creative idea other than one listed, run it by me first please, so I can understand more and make sure it can be graded appropriately. Include any references you used for the project (link to data, links to sources of context).
Read this article on Statistics Research Projects to understand the why, and know what a good project contains. This specifically references a "paper" and a "poster", but I am allowing other forms for this project.
"Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up." ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
Media Credits:
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