Final Project Document

This course is meant to provide you with an introduction to the procedures in the collection, summarization, analysis, and presentation of data. The final project for this course will be a final report. This report will be similar to a research article that you would submit to a journal except you will not be using original research. You will base your final project off the data found in a pre-existing suite of datasets provided for you in Module 1. See "Final Project Instructions, Datasets and Supplemental Materials" in the course sidebar, and read the two articles as well as the "Questionnaire" in that folder for more context on the origin and function of this data.

In weeks one and two you will engage with your classmates in discussion about the process of finding variables and distilling suitable questions from those variables. In following weeks you will be led through the process of developing the report. We suggest you use the "CHARLS Codebook," found in the same folder with the datasets, to choose your variables.

Make sure the data you choose meets the following constraints; you will create appropriate visual displays and run statistical tests for at least 3 types of 2-way associations:

1. Categorical response and categorical explanatory variable
2. Continuous response and categorical explanatory variable
3. Continuous response and continuous explanatory variable

Please note that categorical variables can be dichotomous, ordinal, or nominal. For association 2, make sure you use a categorical variable that is dichotomous.

You will interpret the results of these tests keeping in mind the limitations based on how the data was collected. This project will apply the items you learn throughout the course in a practical way. As a Public Health professional you will be creating many reports. You will have to derive appropriate statistical inferences from data to make an informed decision or draw an informed conclusion.

Your report should include the following items.

1. Introduction [about one page in length]
a. Clearly state your primary research question as well as your two secondary research questions. Your questions should have a clear explanatory variable and a clear response variable.
b. Build a case for why your research question is important. Explain why your question is relevant and what the implications might be if you find an association.
c. Utilize at least two peer reviewed journal articles to support your claims.

2. Methods [about a half page in length]
a. State where your data came from and how it was collected
b. Discuss the statistical hypothesis test used for each research question. You should have three research questions, one for each potential association. There will be one research question that is your primary. You should go through the procedures you used to evaluate each research question.

3. Results: Basic Descriptive Statistics [about a page in length]

a. Examine your most important variables (primary response variable and your primary explanatory variable) individually. What does the distribution look like? Is the distribution symmetric or bell shaped? If not, which way is it skewed?
b. If you have a lot of variables you want to report on, use a table of summary statistics. Make sure everything is well labeled and has a title.

4. Results: Associations and Statistics [about two pages in length]
a. Include the results of your three statistical hypothesis tests. Here you should report your results and not the details of the test.
b. What are the most relevant associations you have examined so far? Clearly state what you have found and what the main features of your figures are.
c. There should be three different types of graphs and/or tables included to depict your findings:
i. A scatterplot (for continuous-continuous association)
ii. A mosaic plot or two way table (for categorical-categorical association)
iii. Side-by-side boxplots (for continuous-categorical association)

5. Discussion/Conclusion [about a page in length]
a. Report on the associations found. "I found that..."
b. Discuss how the associations fit together.
c. Discuss a theme you see. If you do not see a theme that is ok, but you will need to discuss the limitations, why not theme was found, other variables coming into play, etc...
d. In this section of the report answer the primary research question to the best of your ability based on your analysis so far. Also report on your secondary research questions.
e. What would you do next now that the report is complete?

6. Bibliography
a. Include a bibliography that cites all sources referenced throughout the paper using the most current version of AMA formatting.