Instructions and Guidelines for the Project

For the statistics project, you address some questions that interest you with the statistical methodology you learned.  Student will choose the research question; decide how to collect data; and do the analyses.  The questions can address almost any topic (subject to my approval), including topics in economics, psychology, sociology, natural science, medicine, public policy, sports, law, etc.

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 and to demonstrate your competency. 

 – The first phase will be your project proposal – a single page summary of your intended study and project goals with a project title.  

– The last phase will be your final report, that will cover all the steps in a given final report format provided below.  This phase will also include your 20-min project presentation (recorded).

Three topics to choose from:

· Does eating Breakfast increase test scores

· Are men better drivers than women

· Does exercising at night affect your quality of sleep

Or you can make up one.

Project proposal

You should submit a one page proposal describing what you plan to do. Be as specific as possible, describing what question you want to investigate and generally how you plan to obtain data. The instructor will return the proposals to you with comments.  Your proposal should address the following questions:

* What is the topic of your project?

* What are the main issues or problems you plan to address?

* What are your plans for obtaining background information (if needed) about your project?

* Describe the data that you plan on using or collecting, including the variables measured. You don’t have to give a detailed version of your data collection design; you will hand in detailed design plans on the design due date given above.

* What questions and/or concerns do you have about your project?

It is important to be thoughtful about, and provide an adequate description of, the methods and design of the study.  Report on the possible biases associated with your data collection.  You also need to be realistic in planning your research design: can you carry out what you have planned within a reasonable time period and investment of your own energy? The quality of the final product is what counts, not just the amount of perspiration that went into it!  Finally, 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.

Practical Advice: It is often easier to collect accurate experimental data than accurate survey data. Nonresponse tends to be less of an issue with projects based on experiments than with those based on surveys.  I strongly encourage you to consider experiments as opposed to surveys.  For those who want to do surveys, consider using students in dorms or certain courses as target populations.  Make every effort to get a random sample, and try to keep track of the characteristics of non-respondents.  You will have nonresponse; your project won’t be penalized for nonresponse as long as you document it and hypothesize how it might affect your results.