4.6 Assignment: Culminating investigation

Part of your evaluation for this course will be in the form of a culminating activity. By the end of this course, students are expected to design and carry out a culminating investigation that requires the integration of skills obtained in the course, and to communicate the findings of that investigation and provide constructive critiques of others.

This project is a culmination of your data management course. It will draw on knowledge and thinking skills from various parts of the curriculum. It is divided into two portions: probability, and statistics.

This assignment is worth 15% of your course grade.

Instructions

Overview

There are two tasks in this activity. Task one relates to probabilities and probability distributions. Task two relates to data and statistics. Complete all parts of both tasks and arrange your responses in one professional-looking report, with all non-ILC sources cited accurately.

Your report may be a Word (.docx) or PDF document, a slide show, or video with narration. In any form, the content should be written in a way appropriate for your peers.

Task one: A game

Create a random chance one-player game with prizes that is fun to play. The game should include all of the following elements:

The game should be fair. The expected value for the player should be 0. This could be accomplished by charging a set fee to play, or by adjusting prize amounts.
At least three different actions should be taken by the player while playing. Examples include, but are not limited to, drawing a card, rolling a 12-sided die, flipping a coin, etc.
For the game to be fun, the player should win 20-40% of the time.
You must be able to play the game, or simulate playing it using online random number generators.

Submit:

You will submit the following items in the first part of your report.

A name for the game.
A description of the rules and instructions on how to play the game.
A photograph or diagram of any needed materials.
A distribution table for the prizes, and any calculations needed to justify the values.
The expected value of the game, with any supporting calculations.
Evidence that the player will theoretically win 20-40% of the time.
The results of playing the game yourself 10 times.
A comparison of the theoretical results of the game to your experimental results, including a discussion of whether your results were typical or rare.
Two constructive pieces of advice for another student working on this same task, explaining common errors that may be made in this task and ways to avoid them.

Task two: An investigation

Select a research question or hypothesis of interest to you. Your question/hypothesis must involve the relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable. There should be a reasonable connection between the variables that justifies your hypothesis or question.

Your topic can be based on primary data or secondary data. If your data is primary, you should include a copy of the survey you used or an outline of the experiment. If your data is secondary, you should defend its reliability and cite the source. For this project you should use a minimum of 25 pieces of data. Think of one piece of data as an (x,y) data point - a measurement of both variables. You will need at least 25 of these data points. However, the more data you collect, the more accurate your findings will be. Statistics Canada’s website has a “Data” link on the front page that may be a good starting point for any secondary data you desire.

Topic examples

The following are some possible topics. You are not expected to use them, they are only here to get you started in the process of selecting a research hypothesis/question

Planes flying overhead prevent chickens from laying eggs. (Use Statistics Canada’s weekly data on plane flights and egg production by matching corresponding weeks)
The higher the average consumption of caffeinated beverages per day, the fewer number of hours of sleep there are per night. (Use a survey to compare the average daily consumption of caffeinated beverages and the average number of hours of sleep)
If you listen to music, then you will score better on your tests. (Create an experiment where participants listen to varying amounts of music while preparing for a quiz and compare the results)
If a baseball player is paid more then his RBI will be greater. (Use the internet to find salary and RBI information for numerous players)
If a plant is exposed to more lights, then it will grow taller. (Conduct an experiment exposing different plants to different amounts of light for the same period of time and record the growth)
The older a person is, the taller that person is. (Use a survey to compare a person’s age and height)