In Project 1, you will identify real-world examples of hypothesis testing in the media. You will then conduct your own
experiments and compare results.
1. Find an article: Find an article in a newspaper, magazine or on the internet which makes a claim about ONE or TWO
population means, or ONE or TWO population proportions. The claim may be based upon a survey that the article
was reporting on. Decide whether this claim is the null or alternate hypothesis.
2. Copy or print out the article: Copy or print out the article and include a copy in your project along with the source,
cited appropriately according to APA or MLA format. (The NIC Writing Center may be able to help you if you have
questions about proper format).
3. Determine how you will test the claim: You will conduct a survey, or look up data online to test the claim in the
article. Decide whether the claim in the article will be in the null or alternate hypothesis and set up a complete
experiment to collect data as well as a complete hypothesis test to test the claim.
4. Data Gathering: State how you will collect your data. Convenience sampling is not random sampling, nor is asking
friends on Facebook or other social media. You may choose to collect the data yourself or you may use a data sets
that are provided on Canvas or that you find yourself online. If you are having difficulty determining an acceptable
method of sampling or data set for your claim, please visit with me early in the work-time for this assignment.
5. Conduct your survey: You must have more than 30 data points in your sample. These can either be survey
responses, or data points that you found on the internet in datasets independent of those used in the article. When
you hand in your final project, attach the tally sheet, packet of questionnaires, or data table that you used to collect
data. Remember, your data should be real.
6. Report your data: State the statistics that are a result of your data collection: sample size, sample mean, and
sample standard deviation or sample size and/or number of “successes.”
7. Conduct your hypothesis test and show a confidence interval: Show all work and include all necessary parts of your
hypothesis test and confidence interval. You might even want to have a classmate check your solution. Make your
decision using a 5% level of significance. Include the 95% confidence interval in your solution.
8. Create a graph: Create a graph that illustrates your data. You may need to look at several types of graphs before
you decide which is the most appropriate for the type of data in your project.
9. Write your summary: Your summary should demonstrate college-level writing skills including proper grammar and
correct spelling. Your summary MUST include
a. Brief discussion of the article, including the source.
b. Statement of the claim made in the article (one of the hypotheses).
c. Detailed description of how, where, and when you collected the data, including the sampling technique. Did
you use cluster, stratified, systematic, or simple random sampling (using a random number generator)? As
stated above, convenience sampling is not acceptable.
d. Conclusion about the article claim in light of your hypothesis test. This is the conclusion of your hypothesis
test, stated in words, in the context of the situation in your project, as if you were writing this conclusion for
a non-statistician. Include an interpretation of your confidence interval in the context of the situation in
your project.
