Project Overview

· Project Title Page

a. Name, paper title, and date, at minimum.

b. The paper title should be a descriptive title that relates to the topic of the paper.

· Introduction

a. Problem Statement

i. Introduce the problem or question that your project is addressing.

ii. Why does this topic matter?

iii. How have other studies examined this topic?

b. Goal of the Project

i. How does this project inform the problem?

ii. What are you hoping to learn as a result of the analyses?

iii. How will that information help you and/or the world?

iv. Who would benefit from learning the results of this analysis?

c. Scope of the Project

i. Identify and discuss the major IV factors (concepts) that you are investigating.

1. How/why could this factor account for variability in the PDV?

2. Cite a research article that informs your thinking about the role of the factor

3. What specific topic does this paper consider?

ii. For each core analysis, write a short paragraph with your hypothesis and how/why you arrived at this question (ex. Petrak (2019) examined thermal comfort and its effect on performance. She found ____. The current study will investigate this question in a similar/different context).

· Data Collection Methodology

a. Introduce the data source that you are using.

i. Why is this dataset a good fit for your investigation?

ii. Why/When/Where were the data collected?

iii. Who funds this research?

iv. What is the sampling methodology?

b. If the data is part of an ongoing or multi-phase survey program, give some background about the structure of their surveys generally, such as the sampling methodology, the frequency of data collection, and the topics in the surveys. What kinds of organizations or people use these data? How do they use the data?

c. *You can generally find this information in the Methodology area of each survey on the Pew Research Website.

· Variables

a. Discuss each of your variables, and why they are a good choice for your investigation. If there are any issues with the variables, you can discuss them here.

b. Fill out the Variable Information Table and include it in the paper and Appendix.

· Results

a. Demographic Analysis

i. Select at least 2 demographic variables to assess, in terms of the primary DV and IVs.

ii. EC Option: Assess up to 3 additional demographic variables for 5 points each.

iii. Briefly summarize in a paragraph any significant demographic differences, based on the analysis.

iv. Summary Statistics and Results Table.

1. Provide a table with summary information for your variables. Summary information includes for each group, as appropriate: means, standard deviations. Ns, percentages).

2. For the group breakdowns, compare the groups using the most appropriate statistical test. Indicate statistically significant differences in the table.

b. Prediction Model

i. Correlation Matrix. Include in the report. Summarize significant correlations in results style sentences. You do not need to report the null correlations, unless there is something meaningful in them (e.g. the null result is affecting your decisions for the regression IV factors).

ii. Develop a regression model to predict your primary DV. Include at least two IVs. All variables should be quantitative. If you really need to use a variable that is not quantitative for an IV, you must use a method called dummy coding. Get in touch with me for more guidance.

iii. Provide predicted values and confidence intervals for the DV when the IVs have data points of interest (e.g. use the mean values of the IVs to predict DV, use data points 1 SD above the mean and 1 SD below the mean for each IV).

iv. The prediction model should be laid out in a visually appealing way in the spreadsheet. The prediction and CI model should be dynamic (so that you could change the value of the IV and see how that would affect the predicted DV).

c. Comparisons

i. After doing the regression, reflect on what you learned about the topic from your regression analysis, and choose comparisions that help to better inform your understanding of the topic.

ii. Two sets of comparison tests are required. An F-test/t-test analysis would count as one set.

iii. Each test should be summarized in a results sentence. For example, for the independent groups t-test process, you first need to compare the variances to determine if a t-test for equal or unequal variances should be selected. Thus, write a sentence summarizing your variance test. Then, do the appropriate t-test, and write a sentence summarizing the results.

iv. Some comparisons require follow-up tests. For example, a significant chi-square or ANOVA should be followed with pairwise comparisons, in order to determine where the group differences lie.

d. Extra Credit Analyses

i. Conduct up to 6 additional hypothesis tests for 5 points EC each. Any type of test is acceptable, but they should be clearly related to the topic and build on the core required analyses.

· Discussion

a. Discuss the implications of your findings.

i. Why do they matter?

ii. What would you do measure or test differently next time?

iii. What are the next steps to better understand this problem?

b. Compare your findings to other research on this topic.

i. How are the findings similar or different?

ii. What could account for similarities/differences between what you found and what the comparison study found?

· References

a. Use APA format. Cite all sources.

· Appendix

a. Variable Information Table

b. Hypothesis test outlines for each hypothesis

c. All analysis output, labeled clearly with the analysis and the variables/groups.

d. A spreadsheet with the data used for the project. The spreadsheet should have:

i. The analyses for each hypothesis should be on a separate tab.

ii. The tab should be clearly labeled, and

iii. The analysis tables should be ready to read easily without formatting adjustments.

iv. The data should be the final version of your dataset – the exact same data you used in your analyses. It should be possible to replicate your analysis.

Resources

1. Your peers. Talk to each other about what you are doing and help each other.

2. BB. Remember to use your analytic decision making tools!

3. The library. Look up research related to your question. Compare and contrast with what you are doing. What can you learn from the research of others that will improve your process?

4. Data Days. Your intrepid instructor will be available on most evenings (and intermittently throughout each day) this week to help with your project.

Definitions

· IV, Independent Variable

· DV, Dependent Variable

· PDV, Primary Dependent Variable

Writing Tips

· Use clear, concise language.

· At all costs, avoid flowery excessive extravagant words and colloquial turns of phrase in a transparent effort to meet a minimum word count that does not exist for this paper and that gets in the way of comprehension.

· Thus, get to the point.