Using Technology such as SPSS

Answer these questions:

1. Identify a population to study.

2. Identify the sampling method to be utilized and why.

3. How is the sample to be collected? (survey, in person questions, email, facebook, etc).

4. Identify the Hypotheses to be tested.

5. Identify the type of test (one population, two population).

6. Identify the Parameter and Statistic to be tested (mean, proportion, etc).

7. Collect Data on n ≥ 30, state sample size: _____________

8. Follow the steps to Hypotheses testing, analyze your data using statistical software. Include any applicable graphs and descriptive statistics.

9. Summarize your findings in a paragraph.

The goal of this assignment is to analyze one or two quantitative variables (that may be related to each other) to see if you can predict one from the other.  The data set should consist of a set of individual people or things (30 or more) on which variable(s) have been measured (one to two).  Variables need to be continuous, unless testing proportions.

The goal is to analyze the data and to present the results so that someone who has not had a statistics course could understand them.  For example, when you report the p-value of a hypothesis test, you need to explain what it means and why you would probably reject (or fail to reject) the null hypothesis.   You don't need to explain how the tests of hypotheses work, but you do need to explain what the assumptions are and the decision means.

The assignment will have to address five main topics: 

1) What question are you trying to answer? (e.g., Can the height of students be used to predict how far someone can jump?)

2) Why is this question of interest? (e.g., In grade school one of the tests in gym class is to see how far you can jump.  Is this fair to people who are short?)

3) How was the data gathered, and what limitations does this imply?  How would you overcome these limitations?  (e.g., Only students in the fifth period gym class were used, this is bad because...)

4) Describe the relationship between the variables.  (e.g., The jumping distance is predicted to increase by ... for each additional inch of height...)

5) Verify that your model is appropriate (or take remedial action if needed) by checking the assumptions of the model (e.g., Based on this plot, the error variance appeared non-constant, so I ...)

The paper should be typed, using complete sentences, good grammar, and transition between the various sections.  If you are using data collected by someone else or a website, reference the source appropriately.

Specifics for the Assignment

1) If the data come from a sample: Define the desired target population and describe how the sample was collected.  If you were not able to sample from the desired population, state what differences you might expect between the population that was actually sampled from and the desired target population.  If you were not able to take a simple random sample from the population, discuss how the sampling could be improved if you were allowed more money and time.

If the data come from an experiment: Describe how the experiment was carried out, describe any sources of extra variation (e.g. changing temperature, different people making the measurements, etc...).  Did you try to control these?  Discuss how the experiment could be improved if you were allowed (more) money and time.

2) Statistics: The report of the test you performed should include at least the following statistics:  a confidence interval, the p-value for testing, and descriptive statistics & graphs.  Make sure and tell the reader why these statistics should be useful to them, and interpret them in the context of your data set.

Assumptions: Check the assumptions needed. Give relevant plots that you use to check the model assumptions (see above).

3) Finally, don't forget to include a short summary at the end of your paper to tie everything together!

You can build a regression model, test a hypothesis for mean(s), proportion(s), standard deviation(s)/variance(s). You can use data from another class/lab/project, just be sure to cite your source. If I did not receive your Work Cited Page you will get ZERO on your home work.