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OCR Nationals Level 3. Unit 3 – Problem Solving A01 Define a statistical problem to be investigated. Defining the Problem. Needs to be something that you can easily test (think in terms of access to participants and data) Have a look at current events for inspiration or….
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OCR Nationals Level 3 Unit 3 – Problem Solving A01 Define a statistical problem to be investigated D.Garey
Defining the Problem • Needs to be something that you can easily test (think in terms of access to participants and data) • Have a look at current events for inspiration or…. D.Garey
Miss Garey’s Inspirations • Social issues • Moral trends • Usage of ICT across generations • Opinions regarding current affairs • What ICT is used for • Media, TV and music • Health topics • Careers and the future D.Garey
Defining the Problem (2) • After deciding on a topic, theme or area you must research the field before posing a question to investigate • Start broad and general and then focus down to the specifics • Reference anything you use • Your opinion doesn’t count! • Explore both sides to any argument D.Garey
Some Research Terms • Variable –characteristic/property of person, object or situation • Quantitative Variable –measurable i.e. height, weight, IQ • Qualitative Variable –categories such as sex, nationality, blood type • Independent variable (IV) –what is being manipulated by the experimenter • Dependent variable (DV) –what is being measured during the experiment, supposedly influenced by the IV D.Garey
More Research Terms • Extraneous Variable –outside scope of control that could influence outcomes • Correlation –exploring affect of 2 variables in a statistical test DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION! • Between subjects factors –participant is tested under only 1 condition • Within Subjects –same participants perform under both conditions (also termed repeated measures) D.Garey
Hypotheses • By now you should have decided what you want to investigate • You need to make SPECIFIC predictions about what the outcome of your investigation will be • It has to be testable by the gathering of data • Directive Hypotheses (one tailed) state what the outcome with be • Two Tailed Hypotheses state 2 alternative outcomes (either, or) D.Garey
Defining the Problem Continued… • You now need to identify your project objectives and set your own success criteria • Show awareness of the Data Protection Act when it comes to collecting, storing and reporting data D.Garey
Types of Data • 1) interval data –measurements on independent scale with units • 2) ordinal data –ranks/sequencing of information • 3)nominal/categorical data –qualitative categories D.Garey
All investigations are either… • Quantitative –measurable statistically, countable, i.e. closed question surveys, multiple choice, test conditions, empirical, scientific • Qualitative –observation notes, open questioning, discourse analysis, transcript analysis D.Garey
To complete A01… • You must cover all of these points: • identify the problem • • explain background to the problem • • set a hypothesis e.g. ‘Young people with Internet access at home do better at school’ • • identify project objectives and success criteria • • identify data to be collected and the method(s) of processing • • demonstrate an awareness of the Data Protection Act 1998 D.Garey