Project Description - Statistics 431 (formerly Stat 401)

Find a research-type data set and analyze the data using methods that are covered in our course. You may use any of the methods we discuss in class. Your report is due in two parts. Most of the first three sections of the project are due by the fifteenth lecture, while the final report is due by the end of the course. Your final report, which should be approximately 10 typed, double-spaced pages in length (plus an Appendix with graphs, computer code, and selected computer printouts not to exceed 15 pages), will describe your analyses and should include the following five sections:

I. The context of the study (no more than 2 pages).

• General information about the topic.
• The general hypothesis of interest.
• Specify H0 and H1 for the tests of major interest.
• The goals of the study, i.e., what it would contribute to knowledge in the field. Also, relate it to other research already done in the field.

II. Define the design of the study.

• Describe the dependent variable, and specify any potential problems one might encounter in measuring this dependent variable.
• For an experiment,

1. Defend the choice of the blocking variable(s) and the levels used in your experiment. If you don't use a blocking variable, defend why not.
2. Define the treatment factor(s), whether they are fixed or random, and the levels. Defend why they are used in your experiment.

III. Describe the population from which the subjects will be selected. Describe the sampling procedure and the random allocation of subjects to treatments.

These first three sections (I, II, and III, listed above, except for parts 1 and 2 under II) are due on the fifteenth lecture.

IV. Describe the analysis, and analyze the data.

• Write out the linear model for the data.
• Include graphs for visualizing the data and illustrating results from analyses.
• Analyze the data using SAS or another computer package. Use graphical displays for exploratory analysis, and generate some graphs or plots to describe the data. Present the main results from the analyses in the body of the report. In an Appendix include printouts of the raw data (not to exceed 2 pages), graphical displays, the computer programs, and all of the results (up to 15 pages in total).
• For an experiment,

1. Lay out the appropriate ANOVA Table through the expected mean squares.
2. Discuss any uses of post hoc comparisons that may be appropriate to your experiment.

V. Discuss the implications of your results for this field, and compare your results to other published results. (Most of this should follow from your results and the background information in part I)

Special thanks to Dr. Bill Mickelson, whose Project Description I have borrowed and adapted to make this Project Description.