A
Study Comparing Multiple Proportions
You have been
accepted to college and also received the highest grade on the AP Statistics
examination given in May. Unfortunately, to skip the required freshman
statistics course, the Dean of your new school has asked you to submit an
actual study that demonstrates your knowledge of applied statistics.
Project Overview
You must GATHER
your own data which will allow you to do inferences using Comparison of Two or
More Proportions. You must create a study which does not have an obvious
conclusion before the study is performed.
Experimental Design
·
You must collect RAW data in order to answer a question which you
create for a sample you define with hopes of extending your
conclusion to a population which you determine.
·
While
the data must be collected in a way which fulfills the assumptions of the
required test, obtain the largest samples you can.
Format and Style
Some comments
about your final product:
v
It
may be presented in poster format.
v
It
may be presented in report format, in which case,
o
It
should have a cover page and be neatly assembled
v
It
may be presented in Power Point form, but all formulas and graphs must be
completed neatly and professionally.
v
Follow
the AP guidelines on defining symbols which state:
Defining
Symbols: Students should
define all symbols when writing solutions to open-ended questions. For
example, when writing a null hypothesis, a student should not write just m
= 75, but should define what m represents. A clear and complete statement
of a null hypothesis would be: m=75, where m is the mean of the
reading test scores for all students in the school.
v
Symbols,
equations and formulas may NOT be inserted by hand. Note that some word
processor (e.g., MS Word) can easily create almost any symbol.
v
Use
descriptive subscripts such as smale rather than s1
v
Graphs
are NOT required to be computer generated. Remember however that the quality of
your graphs is a critical piece of the story you are trying to tell.
The Report
The
report should have each of the following sections in the order given:
A. The
Introduction/Cover page
A one paragraph
overview of the study covering all the important details. This page will have
to impress the Dean. She will not even look at the rest of the report unless
she is impressed with the study itself and the clarity, professionalism, and
completeness of the abstract in covering the crucial points of the study from
beginning to conclusion.
·
What
is the research question? What point do you wish to prove? Why do expect that
outcome?
·
What
population are you considering?
·
Mention
the test you performed.
·
In a
short summarizing statement, state the results of you study in plain English
that anyone could understand.
B. The Study
1.
(P) The Question: A description (restatement) in everyday English of the
question you are trying to answer.
2.
(P) Sampling: A careful description of how you obtained the samples. Be
very specific. Included sample sizes. The sampling process should be able to be
replicated exactly from your description.
3.
Data: The actual page(s) you used to record the data and a summary of
the counts. This does NOT have to be typed.
4.
(P) Significance Test: Complete all our expected steps of the
appropriate Significance Test. Make
sure the statistics are clearly stated before any calculations. This includes
calculating the test statistic BY HAND and drawing a fully labeled diagram.
C. Discussion/Summary
1 Describe (admit) any weaknesses of
your study. Describe any possible confounding.
2
Extrapolate. What population
do you feel comfortable extrapolating your results to? Why?
3
Sum
up your findings clearly and succinctly