MAT 109 DATA PROJECT
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this project is to describe a data set of your choice using the descriptive tools learned in this course. You will also estimate the population mean, test a claim about the population mean, and create an infographic. Excel will be used for the data analysis portion of the project.
DATA SELECTION:
Select a data set to use for your project. It could be a data set from work, personal data (bills, budget, glucose
readings, etc), or magazine/internet/newspaper data. The following website https://www.bls.gov/Data/ is a
great source for data. This is the federal government’s source, Bureau of Labor Statistics. This will be an
observational study, as you will be using data that is already available. Data must be numeric. You want to
include at least 100 data values. In your description, include how many rows? How many columns?
Operationally define your variables; what are the labels for the rows and columns?
TWO GRAPHS:
Create 2 graphs for your data set. One must be a histogram. The other can be a time series, boxplot, scatterplot etc. From the histogram, describe the shape of the distribution of data, center, and variation. Does this data set Are there any trends present? Explain with several complete sentences (short essay).
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS:
Run descriptive statistics for your data set. Do your numerical results support the description you provided in
section 2 for your graphs? Explain using several complete sentences. Confirm any outliers by calculating, (mean
+ 3s) and (mean – 3s). Do any of your data values fall outside of that interval? Show the computation and discuss
this in your short essay.
ESTIMATION:
Find a 95% confidence interval estimate for the population mean. State this and interpret your results (several
complete sentences).
HYPOTHESIS TEST:
Select a claim about the population mean to statistically test for your data set. Use a 0.05 significance level.
Make sure to include the null hypothesis (H0), alternative hypothesis (Ha), test statistic, critical value and p-value,
decision (reject H0/do not reject H0), and interpretation.
INFOGRAPHIC or DASHBOARD DESIGN:
What is an infographic? In our modern technology-driven world, software programs and websites (even apps) have dashboards showing us our usage statistics or important information about our business operations. Our Peirce librarians recently shared this analysis of the 2018-19 usage of the library. Examples of dashboards can quickly be pulled up by a simple Google search. Likewise, several companies sell software for designing infographics and a search yields these. Infographics are similar condensed marketing and communication tools,
which often contain statistics.
Wikipedia defines an infographic as a graphic visual representation of information, data, or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly. This encyclopedia provides a decent listing of history and a few examples. They can improve cognition by utilizing graphics to enhance the human visual system’s ability to see patterns and trends.
For this project, you are to create an 8.5 x 11 infographic for your data set. Make sure to include some of the information from your data analysis. Click here for some examples: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best- infographics-2016#.W6bHSDhMhyM.mailto
Access templates in Microsoft Office online at https://templates.office.com/en us/Statistics-Infographics-Sampler-TM16401876. These may serve better as ideas, then you can build your own by inserting content in similar arrangements. For more idea, search the Office templates (https://templates.office.com/en- us/Search/results?query=infographic).
