Developing A Thesis Chapter 2.1 – In Search of Good Data Mathematics of Data Management (Nelson) MDM 4U

What is a Thesis (Statement)? A thesis is an intellectual proposition (Wikipedia, 2004). in essence it is an idea there are other definitions as well – it is also a major research publication created by post- secondary students you will develop a thesis for the course culminating project

and… a thesis is a formal statement or question that research will answer or discuss when choosing a thesis…  can you state a specific question?  what are the main variables?  can these be measured statistically?  is there enough data to make interesting analysis?  is the topic manageable?

Variables a variable is a measurable characteristic that can change variables can be continuous or discrete, containing nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio data identifying the variables involved in a study is a significant task

Brainstorming… sometimes developing ideas is quite difficult mind maps or concept maps are useful tools for this process

Culminating Project your first job is to choose a topic that is neither too simple nor too difficult a project that is too large can be made more specific to reduce the size once you have a topic you need to develop a thesis – a specific question or idea without a specific question, the rest of the project will be more difficult

Sample Hypotheses  there will be a positive correlation between the number of cigarettes smoked and the incidence of lung cancer  a woman’s level of education will be negatively correlated with the number of children

Examples of projects… Look at some examples of projects from other schools to give you an idea of where we are going Your project will be produced electronically using a word processor as well as analysis software (Fathom or Excel) A presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint or Corel Presentations is also required

Exercises try page 81 #1 a c e, 2 a c e, 4, 5, 13

Indexes an index is number arbitrarily chosen to represent some data the consumer price index is an example what type of data would the consumer price index be? interval

Consumer Price Index (CPI) A statistical measure of a weighted average of prices of a specified set of goods and services purchased by wage earners in urban areasstatisticalweighted averageprices serviceswageurban A price index which tracks the prices of a specified set of consumer goods and services, providing a measure of inflationinflation Factors include: gasoline, the purchase and leasing of automotive vehicles, homeowners' replacement cost and natural gas

Characteristics of Data Chapter 2.2 – In Search of Good Data Mathematics of Data Management (Nelson) MDM 4U

Data? data is a group of facts or information that is collected from a population a population is the group of individuals that a study is concerned with for example if we want to find the opinions of students at CPHS, the population is all students at CPHS

More Data Classifications quantitative data  data that can be measured numerically  ex: height or weight qualitative data  non-numerical data  Ex: marital status, eye color, attitudes time series data  data collected over a long period of time

Sampling it is usually too difficult to collect data from the entire population (a census) a sample is a part of the population that is chosen to save money and/or time if the sample is representative, then it provides an accurate picture of the entire population a conclusion drawn from sample data is called an inference (we are assuming that the sample represents the entire population)

Types of Studies Cross sectional  a study which samples different groups of a population at the same time  for example: sampling students in grades 9 through 12 in a secondary school Longitudinal  a study that looks at the same individuals over time  for example: sampling the same students over 4 years what are the advantages of each of these?

Exercises read through examples 1 to 3 on pages 86 through 89 Complete page 89 # 1-6 and 10

References Wikipedia (2004). Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 1, 2004 from