Developing A Thesis

Chapter 2.1 – In Search of Good Data

Mathematics of Data Management (Nelson)

MDM 4U

What is a Thesis? A statistical thesis is an intellectual

proposition (question or statement) A major research publication created by post-

secondary students

What is a Thesis? (cont’d) a thesis is a formal statement or question

that research will answer or discuss when writing a thesis…

can you state a specific question? are the main variables identified? can these be measured statistically? is there enough data to make an interesting

analysis? is the topic manageable?

Examples

Do students who play sports have higher marks?

Is there a correlation between age and being a safe driver?

More examples – p. 82 #13

(a) How is the accuracy of a person’s ability to estimate height and distance related to her or his height?

(b) Are females better than males at estimating the size of a large crowd?

(c) What is the relationship between a student’s mid-term average and his or her favourite subject?

(d) Which local fast-food outlet is the best? (e) What do students at your school think about local

school uniforms?

Variables A variable is a measurable characteristic that

can change Variables can be continuous or discrete,

containing nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio data

Identifying the variables involved in a study is a significant task

You must be sure that you have all the data you might need

Brainstorming… sometimes developing ideas

is quite difficult mind maps or concept maps

are useful tools for this process

Culminating Project Your first task is to choose a topic that is

neither too simple nor too difficult A project that is too large can be made more

specific to reduce the size Once you have a topic you need to develop a

thesis – a specific question or idea Without a specific question, the rest of the

project will be more difficult

Sample Hypotheses

A hypothesis is a prediction of what you expect to find

Examples: Students who play sports at least 3 times per

week have higher averages. Safe driving practices will be highest among

drivers aged 30-40.

Examples of projects… Look at some examples of projects from

other schools to give you an idea of where we are going

Your project will be produced electronically using a word processor as well as analytic software (Fathom or Excel)

A presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint is also required

MSIP / Homework

Complete p. 81 #4, 5, 6, 8, 13

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

A statistical measure of a weighted average of prices of a specified set of goods and services purchased by wage earners in urban areas

A price index which tracks the prices of a specified set of consumer goods and services, providing a measure of inflation

Factors include: gasoline, the purchase and leasing of automotive vehicles, homeowners' replacement cost and natural gas

Indexes an index is number arbitrarily chosen to

represent some data the consumer price index is an example http://www.statcan.ca/english/Subjects/Cpi/cpi-en.htm what type of data would the consumer price

index be? interval

Characteristics of Data

Chapter 2.2 – In Search of Good Data

Mathematics of Data Management (Nelson)

MDM 4U

What is data?

Data - a set of facts or information that is collected

Population - the group of individuals that a study is concerned with

e.g., if we want to find the opinions of students at CPHS, the population is all students at CPHS

This does not mean we collect data from every student!

Data Classifications

Quantitative data data that can be measured numerically ex: height or weight

Qualitative data non-numerical data ex: marital status, eye color, attitudes

Time series data collected repeatedly over a period of time

Sampling

A census is often too expensive and/or time-consuming

A sample is a part of the population that is chosen to represent the population

A representative sample can be used to draw conclusions about the entire population

Choosing the sample randomly avoids bias (sample is not representative)

A conclusion drawn from sample data is called an inference

Types of Studies Cross sectional

A study which samples different groups of a population at the same time

e.g., sampling students in every grade from 9 through 12 at CPHS on one day

Longitudinal A study which samples the same individuals over

time e.g., Sampling the class of 2014 (this year’s grade

9s) every year for 4 years What are the purposes of each of these?

Example

Which type of study is best for the following situations: cross-sectional or longitudinal?

a) Determining what percent of high school students plan to attend university within 3 years?

b) Determining the effect of a new pesticide on the growth of tomato plants?

c) Testing the effectiveness of a new allergy medication?

d) Predicting the results of next month’s election?

MSIP / Homework

Read Ex.1 to 3 on pp. 86 - 89 Complete p. 89 # 1-6 and 10

References

Wikipedia (2004). Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 1, 2004 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page