Select your team members [use SPARK] from your Discussion Section by Friday September 19.
By Friday, September 26, we will confirm your final six-person team. Some teams may have less than six members [e.g., one member drops the course, but that is so unlikey!], but that is OK, but no team will have more than six.

Your team will conduct statistical analysis on an issue your team chooses from the list of topics below.

Selection of topics is on a first come basis. Contact your TA as soon as your team has chosen its topic. Your team may elect to submit a topic for consideration by the professor or your TA if you don't like any of the topics provided.

Your team will deliver reports throughout the semester on the topic with a final presentation by Friday, December 12 .

At the end of October and again at the end November, teams can vote a member off their team as long as two-thirds or more of the current team members vote to do so in writing to their TA before the end of that month. The TA will confirm the vote the following week.

Such a vote is a serious problem that must remain a team problem to resolve. The team must work out their own problems and seek the best solution. However, in extreme cases the team could call a vote to remove a team member.

Students who are voted off a team can join any other team that does not have 6 members or they can elect to shift the 10% weight given to the project to their final exam’s weight. If the student elects to not join another team or no team accepts the student, then the student must inform the TA that they are shifting the 10% weight to the final exam’s weight, otherwise the student will get a 0 for the Team Project Grade and it will carry a 10% weight.

Teams who do not have 6 members on their team can add a member from the list of students who have left a team and placed their name on the list of “free agents”.

Topics for Team Projects in Intro Stats for Fall 2008:

Expenses:

How much does an UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms spend to decorate and improve his or her dorm room at the start of the school year?
How much does an UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms spend on a typical weekend for fun and entertainment?
How much does an UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms budget for fun and entertainment expenses during the entire academic year beyond the costs of attending UMass Amherst?
How much does an UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms with a car at UMass spend on car insurance per year? You must separate those who have a car from those who do not have a car at UMass.
How much does an UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms spend on textbooks for use at UMass Amherst during this Fall 2008 semester. You will need information on:
- Number of courses taken; record actual course.
- Number of books required to buy (get a copy of the syllabus).
- Number of books student actually purchased; new, used, where bought.
How much does an UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms spend on a monthly phone bill, including cell phone--use the last bill they received this term.
How much would the typical UMass Undergraduate living in the dorms pay for an electronic-ebook to replace a printed textbook?
What is the mean price for textbooks given as required by a course syllabus for UMass Amherst Fall 2008 undergraduate courses?
How much does an UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms spend on food not part of the meal plan in a typical week?
For UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms, what percent of their UMass education do their parents expect them to pay: none, less than 50%, 50% to nearly all, all?

Campus Life:

What percent of UMass Amherst undergraduates living in the dorms had a favorable view of “FIRST WEEK” activities at UMass this Fall? Why?
What percent of UMass Amherst undergraduates living in the dorms had a favorable view of checking into their dorm room and getting set up at UMass this Fall? Why?
What percent of UMass Amherst undergraduates living in the dorms would prefer to not live in an UMass Amherst dorm? Why?
How many times, on average, does an UMass Undergraduate living in the dorms visit the new LC in W.E.B. Dubois Library?
What are the three most popular or used features of the new LC? How many hours per week do they use each feature?
What percent of UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms regularly leave UMass Amherst on the weekends?
Do UMass Undergraduates living in the dorms, spend more time communicating by phone (including cell phone), email, or IM (instant messaging)?
Do UMass Undergraduates living in the dorms, spend more time communicating by cell phone or land line provided in the dorm room?
What is the mean number of IM sent by an UMass Undergraduates living in the dorms in a typical day?
What is the mean number of cell phone calls placed by an UMass Undergraduates living in the dorms in a typical day?
What is the mean number of emails sent by an UMass Undergraduates living in the dorms in a typical day?

Among UMass Undergraduates living in the dorms:
How important is having a winning men’s basketball team to you?
How important is having a winning women’s basketball team to you?
How important is having a winning men’s football team to you?
How important is having a winning women’s softball team to you?
How important is having a winning men’s lacrosse team to you?
How important is having a winning women’s lacrosse team to you?
Same question other sports; tennis, soccer, swimming, ..
How important is being in a class taught by an award winning, internationally known scholar to you? Why?
How important is having Nobel Prize winning faculty members at UMass Amherst to you? Why?
How often have you taken a course through the Five College Interchange program? Which school did you take course(s) at?
What percent of UMass Amherst undergraduates living in the dorms use Internet services that Rate Professors such as Rate my Professor.com? How helpful are they in choosing your courses?
What percent of UMass Undergraduates living in the dorms would trade “Columbus Day” holiday to get out a day earlier in December of the Fall semester? Or Veteran’s Day?

Instructional Technology:

What percent of UMass Amherst instructors own a laptop, and also use it for teaching their courses by bringing it to every class to project their lecture material?

a) What percent of UMass Amherst instructors with laptops use Apple laptops?
What percent of UMass Amherst undergraduates living in the dorms own a laptop and for those with laptops what percent use Apple laptops? Linux?
What are the views of UMass Amherst undergraduates living in the dorms on the use of PowerPoint presentations, or similar software to project slides, in lectures rather that using overhead projectors or the blackboard?
What is the mean number of students considered as the most appropriate class size by UMass Amherst undergraduates living in the dorms for courses 1) in their major, 2) for non-major Gen Ed, 3) for pure electives?
What proportion of UMass Amherst undergraduates living in the dorms has used PRS in a course? What is the mean number of courses an UMass Amherst undergraduate has used PRS? Of those who have used it, how favorably do they view PRS as a learning tool?
What proportion of UMass Amherst undergraduates living in the dorms has used OWL in a course? What is the mean number of courses an UMass Amherst undergraduate has used OWL? Of those who have used it, how favorably do they view OWL as a learning tool?
What proportion of UMass Amherst undergraduates living in the dorms has used SPARK/WebCT in a course? What is the mean number of courses an UMass Amherst undergraduate has used SPARK/WebCT? Of those who have used it, how favorably do they view SPARK/WebCT as a learning tool?
What percent UMass Amherst Undergraduates living in the dorms prefer a course to be supported by a course web site, including SPARK/WebCT, with all course material available on the Internet? Why?
What percent UMass Amherst Undergraduates living in the dorms prefer a course with a term project worth at least 20% of their course grade? Why?
What is the mean number of exams that the typical UMass Amherst Undergraduates living in the dorms prefers in a course? Why?
What is the mean number of exams that the typical UMass Amherst lower division Fall course has?
What is the preferred weight for a course Final Exam by the typical UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms? Why?
Many courses use a blend of traditional lectures and Internet based activities. What is the preferred balance between these by UMass Undergraduates living in the dorms?
What proportion of UMass Amherst Undergraduate courses in Fall 2008 have a Web Site or use SPARK/WebCT?
What proportion of UMass Amherst Undergraduate courses in Fall 2008 use PRS, CPS, or another similar system? Identify the system used.
What proportion of UMass Amherst Undergraduate courses in Fall 2008 use OWL for online activities?
What proportion of UMass Amherst Undergraduate courses in Fall 2008 have a team project?
What proportion of UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms in Fall 2008 have an iPod? Other MP3 player? How much do they spend each week buying music?
What proportion of UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms in Fall 2008 have a digital camera on their cell phone? You must separate between have a cell phone and do not have a cell phone.
What proportion of UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms in Fall 2008 have a digital camera beyond one that may or may not be on their cell phone?
What proportion of UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms in Fall 2008 are regular users of “Facebook” or “MySpace”? How many hours do they typically spend there in a week?
What proportion of UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms in Fall 2008 are regular users of “YouTube.com” or similar video site? How many hours do they typically spend there in a week?
What proportion of UMass Amherst Undergraduate living in the dorms in Fall 2008 maintain a 1) Web Blog, 2) display photos on the Web, or 3) maintain their own website?

Team Tasks for the Semester:

Specify clearly your population and select a data gathering method.
Write a survey instrument (the questions) to gather the data needed.
Pre-test your survey on students that are in your population.
Re-do survey questions based on the feedback and insights.
Select a sampling method to reach at least 10 students per team member in your population.

Write a one-two page [we only read the first two pages] statement of the topic, the targeted population, what was learned in the pre-testing, the final question or questions, the sampling method, and a statement of problems you expect to encounter in getting a “representative sample” and “accurate answers”. These steps will be 10% of your project grade.
Determine the actual sample.
Gather the data using your team members as interviewers. [each team member does ≥ 10]
Examine the 'raw' data and determine what to do with outliers, weird responses, etc.
Provide descriptive statistics on your topic, including pictures and tables.

In 2 to 4 pages (do not exceed 4 pages as we only read the first 4 pages!) discuss how you arrived at the chosen sample, how you gathered the data from the population, list the raw data, show your work to determine if you have outliers or “weird responses” and inform as to what you decided to do about them, and then calculate summary descriptive statistics, including tables, pictures, and numerical summaries that show the middle, spread, and shape of your variable(s) distribution(s). Attach the questions that were asked to gather the data. These steps will be 40% of your project grade.
Construct a 90% confidence level estimate of the population parameter for your main variable.
Perform a hypothesis test against a Null Hypothesis that we provide for you.
Provide a final report on the project using the five-page template we provide.

Due Dates for each sub-task:

The actual dates will be announced in class and posted here and elsewhere on our Web Site as they are determined by where we are in the course.

Steps 1 to 5 are to be completed by Discussion Section on Friday, September 26 .

Steps 6 to 9 are to be completed by Discussion Section on Friday, October 24.

Steps 10 to 12 are to be completed by Friday, December 12 and submitted to your TA in Discussion Section or to Richard Rogers or Barbara Talenda in 201 Stockbridge Hall by 4 p.m. Submissions not received by 4 p.m.. will not receive ANY credit, so if you are at all nervous about “stuff happens” then turn your final report in early! These steps will be 50% of your project grade.

Final Team Project Template for Final Submission:

Download the Word File from the Lectures Page of this Web Site. Use these instructions for the details.

Due on or before December 12, 4 p.m. No late papers will be accepted so plan ahead and get it in as early as you can.

Page 1:

Statement of your topic and the question your team sought to answer in this project (e.g., The Time Invested in Learning Statistics in First Year Statistics Courses).

Give a one sentence definition of the main "response variable" in your study (e.g., let X be the number of hours a student studies Statistics each week).
Provide a clear, concise, complete definition of your targeted population of interest for this study.
Give the question(s) as you asked them in your survey instrument.
State and explain your surveying method (e.g., email, face-to-face, phone,.)
Give and explain your sampling method and the problems you encountered in getting a representative sample.
Give your sample size and explain where the observations came from.
Answer the question: Do you think you have a representative sample? Why?
Attach the raw data on a one or two page table where you have a column for observation number and then columns for answers to the questions you asked and perhaps a column for comments by the researcher.

Page 2 (and perhaps page 3 if needed for the space):

Discuss any outliers in the raw data or any "weird" or strange responses and your team's decision on each of them.

Present your Descriptive Statistics on your "cleaned" data for the main response variable of your study; starting with a summary table, then useful visual displays, and ending with numerical measures that give the middle, spread and shape of the your main response variable.

Page 3 (or page 4 if you needed two pages for the above):

Construct a 90% confidence level estimate of the population parameter for your main variable. Interpret its meaning.

Provide a 6-step Hypothesis Test on your response variable given the value of the population parameter that we give you from your submission of part two of this team project (you will get this value in Discussion Section on December 5, if not sooner by email). Be sure you give all six steps and really write a great conclusion that would prove useful to someone who never had, or had forgotten, Statistics.

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See Team Project Template see the Lecture's Page as well as for Information of Dysfunctional Teams and how to report any problems beyond the normal frustrations and arguments teams normally have.