Project

1. Project

2. Project • Topic should be: • Clear and specific • Practical and meaningful, this means the results of your research must have some implications in real life • Feasible to study (i.e. can be completed within the time limit you are given)

3. What is meant by a meaningful topic? • Some people may benefit from the research and it is possible to identify who they are • Topic that after conducting the test will lead to good conclusions and interpretations • Topic that is not obvious and the result of the test is not predictable • The inference process using sample to give conclusions about the population is meaningful

4. Project • Choosing a topic • Should not copy from previous years (will receive a low mark if you do so) • Do not choose topics like: how many hours students spend per week using the library, or what students think about the ITM subject (or any other subject) (topics like these have been done many times by previous year students)

5. Where does the hypothesis come from? • Example: We want to test proportion of University A who have high-speed internet connection at home greater than >0.7 • University plans to implement an online course that requires all of the students to have access to high-speed internet • University can support up to 30% of the students. So, more than 70% of the students would have to use their home computers.

6. Project • Project questions • Hypothesis test (you carry out the necessary steps to test some hypothesis) • Descriptive statistics (you analyze the data to give some descriptive results) • So there is a main question answered using a hypothesis test, and there are some questions addressed in the descriptive part.

7. Project • The types of hypothesis tests that you will learn in this subject • Z test for 1 population mean ( known, population is normal or sample size  30) • Z test for 1 population mean ( unknown, sample size  30) • T test for 1 population mean ( unknown, population is normal)

8. Project • The types of hypothesis tests that you will learn in this subject • Z test for 1 population proportion (Population follows Binomial distribution, np  5, and n(1-p)  5) • Z test for comparing 2 independent population means (1 and 2 known, independent, random samples, 2 populations are normal or n1 30, and n2 30)

9. Project • The types of hypothesis tests that you will learn in this subject • Z test for comparing 2 independent population means (1 and 2 unknown, independent, random samples, n1 30, and n2 30)

10. Project • The types of hypothesis tests that you will learn in this subject • T test for comparing 2 independent population means (1 and 2 unknown but assumed equal, both populations are normal) • Paired sample t test (matched pairs, population of differences is normal) • Z test for differences in two proportions (populations follow Binomial distribution, )

11. Project • Think about the test you will apply, before choosing the topic (i.e. tests have assumptions) • Read the assumptions of the tests carefully • Project guidelines: available on the subject website; if you have any questions on project, please ask your tutor

12. Sampling • The way you select the sample will significantly affect the reliability of the project results (i.e. Random sampling is important) .

13. Checking test assumptions • Some tests (e.g. the t-test) require that the population is normally distributed. If the sample size is large (n at least 30), it is possible to draw a histogram of the sample observations to check this assumption; if the histogram shows a bell-shaped distribution, then you can assume that the population is also (approximately) normal.

14. Checking test assumptions • The z test of proportion requires that the population is Binomial and np ≥ 5 and n(1-p) ≥ 5; here n is the sample size, and p is the proportion which is specified in Ho. • To check one of the assumptions of the z test for comparing 2 proportions, the sample proportions are used because the population proportions are not assumed to be any specific value in Ho.

15. Checking test assumptions • If after collecting the sample data, you discover that some of the assumptions are not met, then you can try: • Choosing another type of test that requires fewer assumptions (here you may need to change the sample size) • Choosing a different population if applicable, or choosing a different topic (if time permits)

16. Checking test assumptions • If after some efforts, the assumptions are still not met, then you should proceed with other steps of the project. Remember to document the violation of the test assumptions in your report. The result of the test is no longer considered to be accurate, however students will still complete the project to understand the hypothesis testing process.

17. Project Report and Presentation • Read the project specification in the subject handout carefully • Report: you are required to submit 1 hardcopy and 1 softcopy. • Presentation: some groups will present in lecture (using Powerpoint slides). For presentations in tutorials, the tutor will provide you with more information.

18. Project Presentation • Each group will appoint 4 students to speak. However, all group members have to be present and prepared to answer questions. • The Q/A of presentation will be given 5 marks/15 (of the total project mark) • Teacher will give questions to both the presenters and non-presenters in the group. Teacher will choose who in the group answer which question. If the question is a difficult one, the teacher may allow the group to have a short discussion before he or she asks a student to answer.

19. Project Presentation • The presentation time is 15-20 minutes but no more than 20 minutes.