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| Phase | Description | Due |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Group Formation | 9/10 |
| 2 | Data selection, study design, data exploration, and framing research questions | 10/1 |
| 3 | Hypothesis formulation, more data exploration, and testing out methods as appropriate | 11/15 |
| 4 | Testing out the methods, methods fine-tuning, and writing the interpretation, discussion, conclusions of the results in the context of the data. Putting the entire report together as one scientific narrative | 12/8 |
Writing a scientific report/paper is essential for any researcher. Your project is a way for you to get exposure to the rigors of writing a paper that involves data exploration and statistical analysis.
Each group must choose a dataset or multiple related datasets from the list (see Data Sets) for their project. If you need/want to have additional related data sets that are not listed but can help with your project, please let the instructor know for a discussion.
The most important aspect of your project is that you must write a reproducible report. That means that you must include code into your report - similar to your lab assignments. This can be done easily using RMarkdown. Your submission should be a pdf file with the names of your group members.
Rmarkdown Template and knitted pdf (partial) - Rmd | pdf
Rmarkdown Template and knitted pdf - Rmd | pdf
Phase 1 - Group Formation: Each group should consist of 4-5 people. For people who want to form their own groups, please send a list of names for your group by the due date. The rest will be randomly assigned. Final group formations will be announced.
Phase 2 - Data selection, study design, data exploration, and framing research questions: The first part of your project involves exploring your chosen dataset. Your dataset must be rich enough with information that you can ask questions and perform statistical analysis. A rich data set involves many rows and columns with a mixture of numerical and categorical variables. Your first project report document must include these three parts.
Dataset: Put together your first data frame. What is it? Where does it come from? What is the description of each variable? What are the types of variables? What kind of sampling strategy (or data collection) is used?
Exploration: Exploring the dataset involves creating plots such as scatterplots, barplots, box plots, histograms, etc. Once you see what you are interested in, pick plots that are relevant to your research questions.
Research questions: Formulate your research question and include relevant background research.
Phase 3 - Hypothesis formulation, more data exploration, and testing out methods as appropriate: This phase of your project involves more data exploration, testing out methods that we discussed in class, and formulating your hypothesis, which includes statements and mathematical symbols. Make sure you make action items that address the comments provided to you in your Phase 1 submission.
More Exploration: In order to create a hypothesis, you need to explore more and consider different ways to look at your data. What other variables can you include in your analysis? What are your observations of the data?
Hypothesis Formulation: Based on your research questions, formulate a hypothesis - or hypotheses. The hypothesis statements must be full sentences with its corresponding mathematical notations.
Applying Statistical Methods: Depending on the hypothesis, what statistical method can you apply in order to answer your research question (randomization, bootstrapping, etc.)? Are you using proportions, means, difference in proportions, difference in means, etc? What are your point estimates? What are your initial results/findings/observations?
Phase 4 - Testing out the methods, methods fine-tuning, and writing the interpretation, discussion, conclusions of the results in the context of the data. Putting the entire report together as one scientific narrative. The last phase of your project involved carrying out the method you described from phase 3 and addressing the feedback comments.
Performing the statistical analysis: Perform the appropriate statistical method to your analysis. Interpret the results and discuss your conclusions.
Put your report together as one scientific narrative: Your final report should contain these three parts below. Note that you already wrote most of these from Phases 2-3. You just need to organize them in a more scientific narrative fashion.