General Description

General Description

General Description

For the data analysis project, you address some questions that interest you with the statistical methodology we learn in Statistics .   You choose the question; you decide how to collect data; you do the analyses.  The questions can address almost any topic including topics in engineering, economics, sports, psychology, sociology, natural science, medicine, public policy, sports, law.

The project requires you to synthesize all the material from the course.  Hence, it's one of the best ways to solidify your understanding of statistical methods.  Plus, you get answers to issues that pique your intellectual curiosity. By the end of this session, you will have learned many statistical techniques, such as hypothesis testing, confidence intervals. These techniques will help you address your question of interest. You should work in groups of three or four people on the project.Each group should spread the work among members so that everyone shares in the project to be submitted in a very short time.   

You are permitted to collect data from any source including off the web; however, you must be the ones who decides on the analyses and puts the analysis and the data set together.

Good projects begin with very clear and well-defined hypotheses. You should think of questions that interest you first and then provide an adequate description of the methods and design of the study. You should make use of the concepts and methods learned in this course, and not just general knowledge, in planning and completing this type of project.

Project Submission

Each member of the same group should submit an exact copy of the final  PROJECT with all group members' names listed on the top by the due date. Your project should include the following:

• What are the main issues or problems you planned to address?
• What were your plans for obtaining background information (if needed) about your project?
• Describe the data that you planned on using or collecting, including the variables measured.
• What questions and/or concerns did you have about your project?

You will be graded for the following characteristics:

1. Consistency:  Did you answer your question of interest?
2. Clarity:          Is it easy for your reader to understand what you did and the arguments you made?
3. Relevancy:     Did you use statistical techniques wisely to address your question?
4. Interest:         Did you tackle a challenging, interesting question (good), or did you just collect descriptive statistics (bad)?

Your project should address the following points:

1. Statement of the problem: Describe the questions you address and any key issues surrounding the questions.
2. Data collection: Explain how you collect data. Include any questions you asked. Also, include response rates.
3. Analyses: Describe the analyses you did.  Be ready to explain why you believe these methods are justified.
4. Results: Present relevant descriptive statistics. Include tables or graphs that support your analyses.
5. Conclusions: Answer your question of interest.
6. Discussion: What implications do your results have for the population you sampled from?  What could be done to improve the study if it was done again? What types of biases might exist?