Lisa Rosenberg Mathematics and Statistics Department

Transcription

1 Long Assignment for General Statistics Mathematics 110 Lisa Rosenberg Mathematics and Statistics Department Introduction for Faculty Colleagues This assignment is intended for General Statistics (MTH 110) at Elon University This assignment assesses students on the content knowledge on all major topics covered in the course. These major topics include: sampling, sampling bias, descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and inferential statistics. This assignment requires the students to assess how and when to use appropriate statistical techniques independently using real data. This assignment also has an oral presentation. This component addresses the need to create consumers of statistics that can effectively communicate to an audience that may not have high content knowledge. The primary aim for this assignment is for student to generate and analyze data correctly, appropriately, and independently. The secondary aim is for the student to communicate results effectively to the selected audience and genre. Important features of the assignment: It is broken into smaller pieces. Drafts will be required and there will be peer review. All pieces are eventually put together into a comprehensive oral presentation which brings closure to the course. The Assignment I Distribute to Students MTH 110 General Statistics Semester Project Overview You will be using statistical methods and forms of analysis to answers several questions. Your responses must be directed to an incoming freshman who does not know statistics. You will be working in pairs for this assignment. You and your partner will receive the same grade. A PowerPoint Presentation at the end of the

2 semester will be made on final exam day. This presentation will summarize all of your work. Connections to Course Goals Contextualize statistical information by understanding how statisticians approach problems and the foundations of statistics Develop a healthy skepticism and questioning by critiquing statistical results Use statistical results appropriately to make life and academic decisions Create models and compute appropriate measures to assist in decisionmaking Create an oral or written report on the results of a statistical study and interpret for those who have little or no statistical background Develop an oral or written critique of conclusions drawn from the results of a statistical study Learning Outcomes You will be able to construct questions that involve quantitative variables, confidence intervals, linear regression analysis, and confidence intervals. You will be able to explain measures of center. You will be able to generate and explain scatterplots and linear correlation coefficients. You will be able to construct and explain confidence intervals. You will be able to perform and explain a hypothesis test. You will create an oral report that discusses the objectives listed above. You will be conducting a survey without bias. Process 1. Find a topic that would be of interest to an incoming freshman who is curious about life at Elon. She has never taken statistics before. You will be writing her a typed letter that contains the following information:

3 2. You will create a question for this student related to your topic, which should be answered using: a. Mean b. Median c. Mode d. Standard Deviation You must define each descriptive measure to the freshman and explain (to the freshman) why each descriptive measure was most appropriate to use in answering your question. 3. Create a question related to your topic that should be answered by performing regression analysis. In order to answer this question, you will need to sample at least 100 people. a. How did you perform your sampling? You must not have any bias. b. Provide a picture of the scatterplot. Tell the freshman what information can be inferred from the scatterplot (within context). c. Provide the correlation coefficient. Explain to the freshman what this number represents. d. Is your linear regression relationship significant? Explain to the freshman what this means. 4. Create a question related to your topic that can be answered by creating a confidence interval. a. Using the data you have already collected, create a 94% confidence interval. Explain to the student what a confidence interval is and why we construct them. b. State which type of interval you used and why. c. Write a conclusion that the freshman can understand. Be sure to write the conclusion in the way we discussed in class.

4 5. Create a question related to your topic that can be answered by performing a hypothesis test. a. Justify why you chose your alternative hypothesis (based on your experiences at Elon) in a way the freshman can understand. b. Find a reliable source that will provide you with a null hypothesis. Cite the source using APA style. c. State the null and alternative hypothesis in symbols. d. State the p-value to 4 rounded decimal places. You may leave your answer in scientific notation if that is relevant. State which type of hypothesis test you conducted and explain why. e. Write a conclusion that the freshman can understand. Be sure to write the conclusion in the way we discussed in class. i. Note: See rubric below. 6. Create a PowerPoint Presentation that summarizes questions 2-5. The PowerPoint will be used in the Admissions Office to show incoming freshman. Remember, the freshman will not know statistics.

5 Sample Rubric for Question 5 Question Choice Question is appropriate to a hypothesis test and is relevant to the topic you chose Question is appropriate to a hypothesis test but is not relevant to topic Question is inappropriate for a hypothesis test but is relevant to the topic Question is inappropriate to a hypothesis test and is not relevant to the topic Citation of Null Hypothesis Citation is fully correct from a reputable source Citation has one error from a reputable source Citation has two or more errors from a reputable source Source is not reputable Alternative Hypothesis 0-6 points Alternative hypothesis was justified in an excellent manner Alternative hypothesis was justified in a satisfactory manner Alternative hypothesis was justified in a lacking manner Alternative hypothesis is justified in an incomplete manner Hypotheses Hypotheses are fully correct Hypotheses have 1 error Hypotheses have 2 errors Hypotheses have 3 or more errors p-value and choice of analysis Completely correct Mostly correct Explanations are lacking but have some merit Poor Conclusion- Correctness Fully correct with reference to context 1 error with reference to context 2 errors with reference to context 3 or more errors or no context Conclusion- Audience Appropriate Fully appropriate to audience Mostly appropriate to audience Mostly inappropriate to audience Completely inappropriate to audience

6 Dates 9/2 Topic is Due 9/7 Draft of Question 2 Due. Peer review in class. 9/12 Final Version of Question 2 Due. 9/22 Draft of Question 3 Due. Peer review in class. 9/27 Final Version of Question 3 Due. 10/18 Draft of Question 4 Due. Peer review in class. 10/24 Final Version of Question 4 Due. 11/19 Draft of Question 5 Due. Peer review in class. 11/28 Final Version of Question 5 Due. 12/2 Draft of PowerPoint Due. Peer review in class. Final Exam Date PowerPoint Presentation must be done. You or your partner will be randomly chosen to do the entire presentation. Therefore, be sure that both you and your partner are very familiar with the content and material.