In this portion of your project you will be using the strategies of Descriptive Statistics to begin an analysis of the data that goes along with the article you read. A couple of key points to keep in mind:
You are expected to use correct statistical notation and terminology, and you should be using statistical concepts as they were covered in our class.
When describing/explaining your data and results, be sure to include appropriate units (number of steps, number of students, GPA, etc)
HISTOGRAMS(8 points) Create two frequency histograms for the samples’ GPAs, one for each of the samples. (These can be CAREFULLY hand-drawn images or made with technology.)
Since you will want to compare the histograms, create them both on the SAME PAGE for easy comparison
Note you’ll need to create a frequency distribution table in order to create your histograms.
Use 6 classes for your histograms. Work carefully with the data, since the numbers are decimals. Your classes should have boundaries to two decimal places. Be sure each class is the same width.
Be sure you are using the same classes for BOTH histograms so you can easily compare them! (This means using the LOWER of the two minimums and the HIGHER of the two maximums to create your classes.)
Be sure to include an appropriate title and scaling as discussed in our text. (WARNING: many technology options don’t label histograms as covered in the text. You need to use the standards discussed in the text for your horizontal axis scale/labeling.)
BOXPLOTS (8 points) Create side-by-side modified box plots for your samples; make sure these use the same scale and are in fact side-by-side. (These can be CAREFULLY hand-drawn images or made with technology.)
Each boxplot must have the 5-number summary values listed in the appropriate location on the boxplot.
Be sure to include an appropriate title and scaling.
Be sure to check for outliers and show them appropriately on the boxplots. This check should include your calculations for the upper and lower fences.
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS: (4 points) State the sample mean and sample standard deviation for each of your samples. (We will be using these measures of center and spread for our data…the reason will become clearer as we move into Inferential Statistics).
Use correct statistical notation.
Be sure to include appropriate units.
Be clear which statistics go with which samples.
INITIAL SUMMARY(10 points) Do an initial summary of what you are seeing with your descriptive statistics.
Discuss the shape, center, and spread of the data for each sample.
Talk about any similarities and differences you detect between the samples.
Talk about what the mean and standard deviation tell you about each samples.
Talk about what you did with any outliers in your data.
What initial conclusions, if any, can you can draw from the descriptive statistics from parts 2, 3, and 4? Do your conclusions (if you are able to make any) align with the conclusions of the article?
