Description

This assignment is about research data analysis and interpretation - you will be provided with a dataset, and you are required to investigate quantitative methods for analysing this data using inferential statistics, design an appropriate methodology, conduct your own data analysis and reflect upon the results. The assessment involves writing a brief report (max one-thousand words). Your task is to design and implement an appropriate methodology for analysing the given dataset/problem on the next page. You will need to identify a research question (or questions) or hypothesis to test.

Please note that you must apply inferential statistics to draw conclusions about the population under consideration from the sample data, for example, by applying techniques introduced in the module such as confidence intervals or statistical tests (t-Test, etc). Your analysis must be non-trivial - for example, just applying descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation would not be sufficient. Descriptive statistics can be used to justify the choice of techniques.

Take care to justify the choice of research techniques in your report. You should make sure to explain and describe the techniques applied with sufficient clarity to allow other researchers to replicate your findings if desired. Consider how to best present you results, e.g. using tables, graphs, etc. Discuss the results obtained and the conclusions inferred with respect to the original research hypothesis or question.

The report should have the following sections:

• Definition of the null and alternative hypothesis.
• Methodology, including a description of the techniques applied.
• Results
• Conclusion, including further discussion of the results and your conclusions with respect to the original research hypothesis or question.
• References

Description of the problem/dataset:

A novel drug (Uelostatin) was tested for its cholesterol-lowering properties by carrying out an experiment using 50 volunteers. First, plasma cholesterol concentrations were measured to establish a pre-treatment value.

The volunteers were then given the drug once daily for one month, after which time their plasma cholesterol concentrations were again measured. The cholesterol concentrations from the 50 volunteers before and after the treatment are provided in the enclosed Excel spreadsheet.

You are required to investigate the following:

• The pre-treatment value was assumed to be at least 6 mmol/L. At the 95% level of confidence, does he have enough evidence to disprove this assumption?
• Select a suitable statistical test to assess whether the drug had a significant effect on plasma cholesterol levels.