Project GuidelinesM146 HBurn

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to supplement lecture material by having you do a project involvingcollecting, organizing, summarizing, analyzing, and interpreting data.

Summary of Deadlines and Requirements

Item / Deadline / Requirements
1. Proposal and Planning / Jan 27 /
  • Proposal turned in (see proposal guide page 4).
  • File contains (1) proposal, (2) one copy of the Grade Form (Page 10) (3) planning form (Page 11) with group names as well as a meeting plan detailing how and when your group is able to meet.

2. Discussion / Feb 12 / Group has arranged to meet with me to discuss your proposal. Corrections made, if necessary, to the proposal. Only one person from your group needs to meet (see page 4)
3. 1st Draft: PeerReviewed / Feb 24 /
  • Bring three copies of your first draft (Parts I, II, and III, see Page 5) to class. Complete peer review in class (Helen will bring forms, Page 8).
  • File includes the Grade Form, one copy of your data sheetand original proposal.

5. Final Draft / Mar 17 5PM /
  • Final draft of the whole project (Part I to VI) turned in (see page 5)
  • A self/group evaluation for each person turned in. (see page 7)
  • Include the Grade Form and all previous work at the end as an appendix.

Note:
  • This project is worth 15%of your course grade, and will be graded on a 100-point basis.
  • It can be worked on in groups or individual. Groups are preferable.
  • The project is to be a set of hypothesis tests (tests of significance), and related statistics. That is, you will come up with statements of the form: "I believe such-and-such to be true." Then you will attempt to show by doing an experiment or by taking a sample whether or not they seem to be true. Hypothesis testing takes many forms and you have the freedom to pick which type you would like.
  • When your project or proposal is turned in, it should be done on a word processor in correct format.
  • Like any paper, you will be graded on the originality and importance of your ideas, your proper use of the English language (including grammar and spelling), and the neatness and professionalism of your report.
  • The project in its final form will be due on the date specified above. Each part/draft of the assignment that you get back from me should be turned in again at the next deadlines, as part of the appendix.
  • You may wish to have your proofreading done by someone with a good English background, but not a statistical background. I highly recommend the Writing Center.
  • Do not use sheet protectors at any time for this project!
  • Each member of the group will do a self/group evaluation
  • Double check your statistics. Good statistics do not guarantee a perfect grade, but bad statistics guarantee a lower grade.
  • The paper will likely be read by a second, non-statistical person as well as by me.
  • You will lose significant points automatically if you miss any of the deadlines.

Here are some of the main hypotheses that have been used before:

  1. Most people tend to “self-diagnose” rather than go to the doctor.
  2. The mean time to solve a puzzle is shorter for those listening to music
  3. Health care cost, car insurance cost, or rent vary drastically in different cities/states
  4. People in my community think that health care should be free to everyone.
  5. Most people do not exercise enough.
  6. Baseball players make higher salaries than basketball players.
  7. Students who work less have higher GPAs.
  8. The obesity rate is higher in the south than in other parts of the country
  9. The average rate of AIDS in US states is less than 10%.
  10. Students who live at home brush their teeth more than students who live on their own.
  11. More American students do not use an umbrella than International students on a rainy day.
  12. The average number of cigarettes student smokers consume in a day is 11.
  13. Females leave larger tips then males.
  14. More than 50% of students buy hot lunches in the cafeteria.
  15. The typical salary of a nursing major in the US is $60,000
  16. More students buy their books online rather than at the bookstore.
  17. On average,students at this college get less than 7 hours of sleep.
  18. More students wear black shoes than any other color.
  19. Students who work a high number of hours will have a lower GPA compared to students who have less working hours or don't work at all.
  20. The average number of students using the study tables in the Library is greater than the average number of students using the computers.
  21. The average time it takes a student to find a parking spot in the parking lot is more than 5 minutes
  22. Students study on average more than 3 hours for their Math Final.

Some things are not good hypotheses for this type of project. You do not want to pick a hypothesis that can be definitely verified. (For example, you could say "I believe that more than 75% of the people in Math 146 this quarter are nursing students." This could be easily verified or proved false by doing a census of the students.) Instead, you want a hypothesis that requires a sample that you will use to make inferences about the population.

Proposal Guide and Planning (Typed, Due January 27)

I would like to get a short explanation of question and the main hypothesis you would like to test. You should also explain why you chose this topic. Why did it interest you? If you think your hypothesis might be too difficult, then suggest a back-up question and hypothesis you might explore. You may do observational or experimental types of projects. That is, you can ask questions or observe some phenomenon, or you can actually do an experiment and record results. Try to think about the difficulties involved in collecting data for your particular hypothesis. (For example, if we changed the easily verifiable hypothesis mentioned above to "I believe that more than 75% of all the people who take Statistics are Nursing students", it would no longer have the problem of being easily verifiable. However, it would now be impossible to collect such data, because you don't have access to that type of information.) Also try to think of the interest level of your project. Will others want to read about your result?

Your proposal (1 to 2 pages typed, double-spaced) should include the following: 1) Title, 2)Group members, 3) Question and hypothesis and why you chose them, 4) Clear statement of population and sample, 5) State the variables and Whether each variable is categorical (qualitative) or numerical(quantitative).See me if you are unclear about this; it is crucial to the project. Finally, 7) you will need to start to talk about how you plan to collect data. State clearly what type of sampling strategy you will use. Put all your materials in a folder that I provide. This part should be 1-2 pages. Short is good.

For the Planning sheet, I would like to know the members of your group. I would also like a plan showing when you are able to meet as a group. (For example, you all have the 2-3pm hour free every day and plan to meet at least every Thursday.) The biggest problem that people run into is choosing groups based on friendships, rather than compatible schedules.

EXTRA CREDIT: 5 points of extra credit will be given if your project relates to an important issue or question in your community (either neighborhood, college community, or other type of community). To receive this extra credit, you must justify that this is indeed a compelling question to your community by providing clear reasons or rationale.

Discussion (By February 12)

You should set up a meeting with me to discuss how you will collect your data, and any corrections to your proposal. You can earn up to half of your missed proposal points back. At this point, you can decide to change your hypothesis. Before your discussion with me, you should have a rough idea of how to proceed in terms of data collection. We will formalize this into a plan. Note that data collection can be very tricky and very time consuming. (For example, to test a hypothesis like "smoking at college", you can't simply go to the student center (or the library, or group members’ classrooms, etc) and ask 40 people whether they smoke outside the designated areas.) To test hypotheses about campus, you will probably need to use a multistage sample, using randomness to pick the time and locations. Very few projects will have an actual sampling frame for the population, so a simple random sample is likely to be impossible. However, with proper coordination you should get a sampling procedure that hopefully is still representative of the campus.

1st Draft for Peer Review (Section I, II, and III, Due February 24) and Final Drafts(all sections, Due March 17 by 5PM)

Follow the format specified below to write your 1st and final drafts of your project.

Your project (1st and final drafts) should be typed with the following format: (Note: Having this format does not mean that you should go through and answer each of these questions. These are to give youideas.)

I. Introduction (1 page or less).

Write a couple of paragraphs introducing your question and hypotheses. Include information about why you chose your question, why your question is interesting or important. You might also include what are some of the implications if your hypotheses are true. This section could be started as soon as your hypothesis is cleared with me.

II. Data Collection (3-4 pages, including survey and data sheet).

A. Proposed. Discuss how you plan on collecting your data and how many data are you planning to collect (I highly recommend you to have your sample size n > 30). Clearly state the population, sample, variable, and whether it is qualitative or quantitative, whether it is a proportion or a mean, and try to argue that the sample you are collecting will be random and representative. Include the type of sampling strategy you used. You should also discuss how you will deal with problems and also discuss potential sources of bias. Do you plan to use a random number generator? Will you use simple random sampling, stratified sampling, or some other method? Will you use surveys, polling, published material or something else? I will return this to you so that you may make revisions before the final draft is handed in. You should have your draft proof read by all group members and, if possible, by someone outside the group before doing the peer review. I highly recommend the Writing Center. This preliminary copy must go in the appendix of the final form, so be sure to save it. You will lose points for each day this preliminary copy is late, and lose points if it is not included in the final draft.

B. Actual. Include how the actual data collection process went. Did you have to modify your original data collection plan? How well did it go? What problems did/didn't arise? Were you able to deal with them? Did you have to change the format of your hypothesis? Remember the data must be collected so that you can enter them into an Excel sheet or your calculator. Please include a copy of your data in your 1st draft.

C. Survey questions and data sheet. Include a copy of the survey questions if your project is an observational study and organized data sheet after data is collected and entered into excel.

This part should be 3-4 pages including survey and data sheet.

III. Graphical Representations (1-3 pages)

Create appropriate and relevant graphs that best describe your data and project. (pie chart, bar chart, histogram, scatter graph, boxplot, etc.) You will be graded based on demonstrating that you have learned how to organize data into graphical representations.Each graphical representation should have a one or two sentence summary of the graph.

IV. Analysis of Data (1-2 pages)

This is where you actually do the hypothesis test. Be sure to check with me early, if you are not sure which type of test you should be doing.State which test you used? Were all the guidelines and assumptions for using the test met? (For example, is it a test for which you must assume normality? Did you need to check guidelines for proportions like np0 > 5 and nq0 > 5, if applicable?) What were the results? Interpret the results of your hypothesis test using the language developed in class. If you reject your hypothesis, create a confidence interval and explain what it means.

V. Conclusion and Discussion (1 page or less)

Start by reminding the reader what your project was about. Then, did your tests agree with your original hypothesis? (Your grade does not have any relation to the answer to this question.) If not, why do you think it didn't? If you were to do the project over, are there things you would do differently? What implications are there to your results? Is there some organization, business, or campus department that should receive a copy of this? What, if anything, have you learned from this project?

This part should be 1-3 paragraphs.

VI. Appendix

You must include all previous drafts and related materials.

* A project sample will be posted on the course website.

Self/Group Evaluation Form Project Title: ______

List all the names, putting your name in blank A.

Group Members: A. (This is you!) ______B. ______

C. ______D. ______

1.What, if anything, did you learn about statistics from this project? (Use the back if necessary)

2.What did you learn about group work from this project?

3.What are the strengths of your project?

4.What are the weaknesses of your project?

Using the letters A-D from above to represent each group member, rate each group member (YOU are in space A!!) for each statement (including the last one) with a number between 0 and 10 (10 being highest).

A B C D

Contributed greatly to the success of the project. ______

Contributed to the picking of the original idea.______

Did much of the writing for the project.______

Did much of the typing for the project.______

Produced many of the graphs. ______

Kept us on task.______

Created and checked the statistical tests.______

Attended and contributed at group meetings.______

Other: ______

Overall grade for each group member. (Use 0-10)______

(Remember, you are in blank A!)

M146 Project PEER REVIEW

Name of Paper Reviewed:
Name of Reviewer:

  1. Read the paper and write comments directly on the paper.
  1. Grade each of the sections with the following marks::

+ means it’s excellent

means it’s acceptable

-means it is still needs work

  1. Introduction
  • Question and hypothesis clearly stated_____ Comments:
  • Explained why the topic is important _____ Comments:
  • Overall quality of the introduction: ______Comments:
  1. Data collection
  • Correctly stated population_____ Comments:
  • Correctly stated their sample_____Comments:
  • Correctly identified sampling strategy _____ Comments:
  • Described any changes to their sampling strategy_____ Comments:
  • Stated the variable and correctly identified it as quantitative or qualitative _____ Comments:
  • Stated whether their statistic is a proportion or a mean ______Comments:
  • Included the survey questions and data sheet. _____ Comments:
  1. Graphical Representations
  • Chose appropriate graphs for their variable (quantitative = histogram, dotplot, or box and whiskers; qualitative = pie chart or bar chart) _____ Comments:
  • Graphs were of high quality and included all required components (shows data values, title, labels on axes). _____ Comments:
  • Summary sentences after each graph: ______Comments:
  1. Was the paper easy to read? If not, why?
  1. List two or three strengths of the paper.
  1. List two or three areas of improvement for the paper.

Grade Form (100 points possible): (This needs to be included in your portfolio)

Project Title: ______

Group Members: A. ______B. ______

C. ______D. ______

1. Proposal: [18 points – 3 pts each]

1) Clear and complete meeting plan, and Grade Form turned in (with the binder).

2) Statement of question and hypothesis and why you chose it (why it’s important to you)

3) Clear statement of population and sample

4) Definition of variables and whether they are quantitative or qualitative

5) State whether the project involves percentages (proportions) or averages (means)
6) Beginning discussion of data collection and analysis, including sampling strategy

EXTRA CREDIT: Your hypothesis relates to an issue in your community. (5 pts)

2. Discussion: [2 points]

1) At least some of the group members met with me by the deadline, and brought this form in the binder with them.

2) Proposal corrections have been made (can earn half of the missed proposal

points back)

3. 1st Draft:Peer Reviewed: [20 points – 5 pts each]

1) Quality of the first draft of Parts I, II, III.

2) Grade Form, peer review verification, and original of hypotheses turned in.

3) Previous work is in an appendix at the end.

4) Appropriateness and clarity of the data collection process.

4. Final Draft: [50 points]

1) Final paper looks and reads like a single, cohesive, and professional project[5 pts]

2) Grade form and originals of previous parts turned in.[5 pts]

3) Relevance and completeness of graphical and numerical summaries of the data.

[5 pts]

4) Summarized graphs of data [ 5 pts]

5) Final statistical analysis of the data.[20 pts – 5 pts each]

a) Appropriate tests done.

b) Tests done correctly.

c) Appropriate conclusions made, based on your data.

d) Confidence intervals included, if necessary.

6) Style, appearance, grammar, and spelling. [5 pts]

7) Readability and interest level for someone not in the statistics field. [5 pts]

5.Self/group evaluation (done by each individual). [10 points]