OCR Nationals Level 3 Unit 3 – Problem Solving A01 Define a statistical problem to be investigated D.Garey Spring Term 2010

Defining the Problem Needs to be something that you can easily test (think in terms of access to participants and data) Have a look at current events for inspiration or…. D.Garey Spring Term 2010

Miss Garey’s Inspirations Social issues Moral trends Usage of ICT across generations Opinions regarding current affairs What ICT is used for Media, TV and music Health topics Careers and the future D.Garey Spring Term 2010

Defining the Problem (2) After deciding on a topic, theme or area you must research the field before posing a question to investigate Start broad and general and then focus down to the specifics Reference anything you use Your opinion doesn’t count! Explore both sides to any argument D.Garey Spring Term 2010

Some Research Terms Variable –characteristic/property of person, object or situation Quantitative Variable –measurable i.e. height, weight, IQ Qualitative Variable –categories such as sex, nationality, blood type Independent variable (IV) –what is being manipulated by the experimenter Dependent variable (DV) –what is being measured during the experiment, supposedly influenced by the IV D.Garey Spring Term 2010

More Research Terms Extraneous Variable –outside scope of control that could influence outcomes Correlation –exploring affect of 2 variables in a statistical test DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION! Between subjects factors –participant is tested under only 1 condition Within Subjects –same participants perform under both conditions (also termed repeated measures) D.Garey Spring Term 2010

Hypotheses By now you should have decided what you want to investigate You need to make SPECIFIC predictions about what the outcome of your investigation will be It has to be testable by the gathering of data Directive Hypotheses (one tailed) state what the outcome with be Two Tailed Hypotheses state 2 alternative outcomes (either, or) D.Garey Spring Term 2010

Defining the Problem Continued… You now need to identify your project objectives and set your own success criteria Show awareness of the Data Protection Act when it comes to collecting, storing and reporting data D.Garey Spring Term 2010

Types of Data 1) interval data –measurements on independent scale with units 2) ordinal data –ranks/sequencing of information 3)nominal/categorical data –qualitative categories D.Garey Spring Term 2010

All investigations are either… Quantitative –measurable statistically, countable, i.e. closed question surveys, multiple choice, test conditions, empirical, scientific Qualitative –observation notes, open questioning, discourse analysis, transcript analysis D.Garey Spring Term 2010

To complete A01… You must cover all of these points: identify the problem • explain background to the problem • set a hypothesis e.g. ‘Young people with Internet access at home do better at school’ • identify project objectives and success criteria • identify data to be collected and the method(s) of processing • demonstrate an awareness of the Data Protection Act 1998 D.Garey Spring Term 2010