part 1

research question

Do states with a higher college degree rate have a lower poverty rate?

2. Data selection and source

Below is a list of websites students have used in the past. There are tons of resources where you can obtain real data. You may use other sites, but make sure that it is a legitimate website. Finding good data to analyze will take a good amount of time so plan ahead!

https://www.data.gov/

https://www.census.gov/data.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/appendix/appendix-e.html

https://www.healthdata.gov/

https://www.cdc.gov/datastatistics/index.html

http://www.gapminder.org/data/

http://www.pewinternet.org/datasets/

https://stats.nba.com/

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/

http://hdr.undp.org/en/data

http://www.espn.com/

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salries/index.htm

https://www.aamc.org/

https://ourworldindata.org/

Your sample size should be comprehensive. For example, you should have a minimum of n=30 for your data to be comprehensive.

Remember that each data point needs two variables (dependent and independent variables). The data must be quantitative. Once you decide on a data set, ask for approval.

Download, copy and paste the data into Excel.

You needthree columns in Excel clearly labeled with units:

Ex: (State names, median income ($), Homeless percentage of state population)

a. write the website or source you obtained your data from:

b. Explain how you selected the data:

Determining the Independent and Dependent Variables:

To determine the dependent and independent variables, take a look at how you have phrased the research question. For example, here is a research question: Do countries with higher levels of

Determining the Independent and Dependent Variables:

Decide how you will ask your research question.

For example, if a researcher questions whether countries with higher education for women have lower child mortality rates? The researcher may have asked this because s/he wanted to test the claim that women's education may have an effect on child mortality rates. Therefore, women's education is the independent variable and child mortality rates is the dependent variable.

3. Independent (predictor) Variable (x)

a. Identify the Independent Variable (x): Write the name that you will use to label the independent variable in Excel

b. Describe and explain the independent variable in a complete sentence with units and

years, if applicable. Use the wording from the data source.

4. Dependent (response) Variable (y)

a. Identify the dependent variable (y): Write the name that you will use to label the dependent variable in Excel.

b. Describe and explain the dependent variable in a complete sentence with units and

years, if applicable.

Use the wording from the data source

part 2

1. Data selection methodologyIn statistics, how the sample is obtained for data analysis is important. Explain how you obtained or selected your data. Did you choose all the data because it is comprehensive of your data sets (example: all 50 states)?Did you delete some values because it was missing? Was your data selected because it meets the criteria?What is your sample size?

2. Independent Variable (x)

a. Identify the Independent Variable (x):Write the name that you used to label the independent variable in Excel:

b. Describe and explain the independent variable in a complete sentence with units and years if applicable. Use The wording from the data source.

3. Measures of Center of the Independent Variable (x )

4. Measures of Center of the Independent Variable (y)

a. You may paste the summary statistics table from Excel below for the independent variable. Adjust the font size if necessary.

b. Determine the mean, median, and midrange of the independent variable. Include units. Carry one more decimal place than is present in the original set of values.

Mean:

Median:

Midrange:

4. Measures of Variation of the Independent Variable (x )

a. Determine the range, standard deviation, and variance of the independent variable. Include units. Carry one more decimal place than is present in the original set of values.

Range:

Standard Deviation:

Variance:

5. Measures of Relative Standing of the Independent Variable (x)

a. Identify the measures of the independent variable. Include units.Min: Median: Maximum:

b. Determine the data point that has the minimum and maximum values in your

independent variables column.With Minimum Value: With Maximum Value:

6. AnalysisDescribe the independent variable in a short paragraph based on your analysis of the data.

Part 3:Summary Statistics of the Dependent Variable (y)

1. Dependent (response) Variable (y)

a. Identify the dependent variable (y):Write the name that you used to label the dependent variable. Include units.

b. Describe and explain the dependent variable in a complete sentence with units

and years if applicable. Use the wording from the data source (website).

2. Measures of Center of the Dependent Variable ( y )

a. You may paste the summary statistics table below for the dependent variable. Adjust the font size if necessary.~optional~

b. Determine the mean, median, and midrange of the dependent variable. Include units. Carry one more decimal place than is present in the original set of values.

Mean:

Median:

Midrange:

3. Measures of Variation of the Dependent Variable (y )

a. Determine the range, standard deviation, and variance of the dependent variable. Include units. Carry one more decimal place than is present in the original set of values. Range:

Standard Deviation:

Variance:

4. Measures of Relative Standing of the Dependent Variable (y)

a. Identify each value below. Include units.

Minimum Median:

Maximum:

b. Determine the data point that has the minimum and maximum values in your dependent variables column.

With Minimum Value:

With Maximum Value:

c. Separate the data for your dependent variable into two groups - Group one is for values above the median and Group two is for values below the median.

Group One :

N=

M=

SS=

Group Two

N =

M =

SS=

5. Analysis. Describe the dependent variable in a short paragraph (at least three sentences) based on your analysis of the data.

Part 4: Hypothesis Test

1. Hypothesis TestTest the claim that there is a significant difference for your independent (x) variable between the two groups of the dependent ( y) variable.

a. State the null and alternative hypothesis.

b. Find the pooled variance for the two groups.

c. Compute the standard error of the difference between the means of the two groups.

d. Hypothesis Test Based on the t-Test using a \alpha =0.01 significance level.