In this project, you will investigate a research question that can be answered by taking a random sample from a well-defined population and analyzing one variable from the collected data using methods we have learned.
Here are some examples of projects that past students have done:
You are required to work with one partner for this project.
Data Collection: Both you and your partner should collect the data. Be sure to take lots of photos to include in your report and your poster. If you work in a research lab that collects data, I encourage you to see if any of the data from your lab would be appropriate for this project.
Report: You will analyze the data that you collected using techniques in the class and prepare one report with your partner. You will submit a draft, for which you should write up the Data Analysis without collaborating with AI or any human other than your partner. Then, you will submit a final draft, for which you are encouraged to use AI to check your work and polish your writing. However, you should only use terminology, formulas, and notation taught in this class. Any reports that use terminology, formulas, notation, or code not taught in this class will earn an automatic grade of 0 for both you and your partner. (Exception: You may use AI to generate code to help with making plots.)
Here is a template with instructions for the report.
Submission: You and your partner should join an empty Project 1 group on Canvas. Upload a draft by Wednesday, October 29 by noon to Canvas. Upload the final version by Wednesday, November 5 by noon to Canvas.
In this project, you will investigate a research question that can be answered by randomly assigning units to one of two groups and comparing the two groups using the methods we have learned. Here are some examples of projects that past students have done:
You are required to work with one partner for this project, who cannot be the partner that you worked with on Project 1.
Data Collection: As you collect the data, be sure to take lots of photos to include in your report and your poster. You will need to submit your data with your project. I recommend using Google Sheets and downloading the file as CSV.
Report: You will analyze the data that you collected using techniques in the class and prepare one report with your partner. You will submit a draft, for which you should write up the Data Analysis without collaborating with AI or any human other than your partner. Then, you will submit a final draft, for which you are encouraged to use AI to check your work and polish your writing. However, you should only use terminology, formulas, notation, and code taught in this class. Any reports that use terminology, formulas, notation, or code not taught in this class will earn an automatic grade of 0 for both you and your partner. (Exception: You may use AI to generate code to help with making plots.)
Here is a template with instructions for the report.
Submission: You and your partner should join an empty Project 2 group on Canvas. Upload your data (as a CSV file) to Canvas and a draft by Friday, November 21 by noon to Canvas. (However, everyone has an automatic one week extension if you need it.) Upload the final version by Friday, December 5 by noon to Canvas.
Instead of a final exam, you will turn one of your projects into a poster and present it at one of two poster sessions:
You are encouraged to present the poster with your project partner, if possible. Join a group on Canvas with your partner, corresponding to the date that you want to present. If you want to present at the early session on 12/5, you must join a group by Wednesday, December 3 at noon (even if you are presenting solo).
Your poster will need to be printed on 24" x 36" paper. You may select all the most basic printing options (e.g., matte paper, no lamination, not mounted). There are a few options for printing:
Here is a poster template that you can use, although you are welcome to use your own. (This is adapted from a template made by Nic Fishman.)
Don't forget to upload a PDF of your poster to Canvas, even if we are not printing the posters for you.
You will be graded on the quality of your poster and presentation skills. The majority of the grade will be shared between you and your partner (if you have one), but there will also be an individual grade for how well you individually answered questions about your project. Finally, you will be required to peer review 4 other posters during the poster session (when you are not presenting). Click here to see which session you are presenting in.