Statistics

MATH 2020 Final Project Guidelines

This project is meant to help you apply at least one concept from our class to something

you encounter in real life. Projects may be done individually or in groups. These can be

PowerPoints, papers, posters, whatever makes the most sense for you. The general

guideline for length is that the primary project should take you about 7-10 minutes to

present (if we were going to present them) and any additional people in the group should

contribute another 5-7 minutes of content. This can either be done by discussing another

perspective on the same data or the same concept on different data. Ask if you have any

questions.

This project is meant to springboard off of the last few chapters. PROJECTS CONTAINING

ONLY TOPICS COVERED IN CHAPTER 3 OR 4 ARE CONSIDERED INSUFFICIENT AND WILL

RECEIVE 0’s. Ask yourself a question that is not something you can simply count up. For

instance, do not ask how many blue M&Ms are in a bag, nor even that chance of pulling one

out of the bag. These are found by sitting down to count the candies and this proves little

about your statistical know-how. Instead, ask a question like, “Does it seem like more

women are in the nursing program than men? Does that only happen at SLCC?” Now you

have the foundation for hypothesis testing and you can answer a question that is possibly

relevant to other groups.

What Will Be Graded (See attached rubric for more details)

Be sure to state all your sources clearly. Include all data sets used. You will be graded on:

1. Having the required amount of material.

2. State all relevant background material. (i.e. did you create the data yourself or did

you read it somewhere? If you found the data elsewhere, does the person collecting

data have a bias (reason to want you to believe certain things)?)

3. Clearly outline what the population being studied is and all relevant statistics and

parameters.

4. Give details as to how you come to your conclusions. (For example, if you are doing

hypothesis testing, what was your null and alternative, what is your alpha level,

what made you decide all of those things?)

5. Bring everything together for a big picture perspective. This is not simply about

numbers, this is about something bigger. Your conclusion should state things in

layman’s terms (so that someone who has not taken a statistics course could

understand it).

Suggested Topics

 Find a study in a magazine or online article that has a lot of information provided

and test their hypotheses yourself.

 Ask me for tables of data from other resources so you may conduct your own tests.

 Consider making your own data set. You could survey random students at school

with questions that are easy to quantify:

 How many hours per week do you study?

 How many speeding tickets have you ever gotten?

 What do you pay for rent?

 Invent your own.

 Look up data from your favorite sport such as number of passes or home runs and

assess those using techniques we learned in class.

 Look at data from a certain event that occurs often (weekly, monthly, yearly) where

you will have lots of data and see if you can notice trends that are statistically

significant. (For example, if you look at the Olympics, perhaps you can talk about

proportions of medals won by a certain country)

 Be creative. This is your chance to talk about something you actually care about. I

can assist you with whatever ideas you have.

Tips on what you should do:

 Cite everything somehow! I am not particularly picky about citation styles, use what

you are comfortable with. However, please make sure you are consistent and your

method is clear (for example, if you are using footnotes, make sure the footnotes are

included in your final project and they are easy to find and read.)

 Find a topic that has lots of information and which is simple enough for you to tackle

with the materials from this class (it is Elementary Statistics after all).

 Make sure what you want to know is easily quantifiable; qualitative data limits the

type of analysis you can do.

 If you are working in groups, make sure that all work that is your own is clearly

labeled so that grades may be given accurately. [You may consider turning in

separate pieces of documentation, or at very least, including a note detailing what

work was your own]

 If you collect your own data, please ensure that all criteria for whatever analysis you

want to do is met. For example, asking your 5 friends how they feel about

something, is not a real survey in which you can use the normal distribution.

 Make sure that your final project is cohesive. There should be clear transitions

between ideas and topics (particularly if you are working in a group).

 Please use proper formatting for mathematical symbols, if you don’t know how,

ASK!

Tips on what not to do:

 PROJECTS CONTAINING ONLY TOPICS COVERED IN CHAPTER 3 OR 4 ARE

CONSIDERED INSUFFICIENT AND WILL RECEIVE 0’s.

 Do not copy someone else’s project off the Internet (or someone else’s project from

a previous semester)

 Do not do book problems and assume this is sufficient

 Do not just make graphs; data alone is not enough

 Do not just copy my notes back to me; I know how to do these problems already.

 Do not forget your work cited information!

 Do not use “text speak” I expect you to use proper English and grammar (within

reason) Ex: u≠you, capital letters are essential, etc.

 Do not plagiarize!

 Do not choose a topic that could in any way be inflammatory. In other words, make

sure that your school project is school appropriate.

If you can finish your project early, feel free to submit it for feedback. The project is due on

the day of the final exam.