Name: _______________________________
MDM4U (Mathematics of Data Management) Culminating Project
The Task
The main focus of this project is for you to gather, organize, analyze and present data. Your study will include
relevant descriptive statistics that you have learned about in this course.
Your final project will consist of three parts – a proposal, a written report and a presentation to the class. This project
is to be completed either individually or with one (1) partner. The project is worth 20% of your final mark for this
course.
Type of Project
First you will need to decide what type of data you will collect for your project:
1.
Primary Data is information that you collect on your own. For example, this could be obtained by having
students at CPHS complete a questionnaire on paper or online (using Fathom, surveymonkey.com, etc.). It
could also be an actual experiment/simulation that you conduct using a computer.
2.
Secondary Data is information that you are taking from another source. It is important to use reliable
sources. When choosing your topic, be sure that you will be able to find good data. Some places that
students often obtain data from are as follows:
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Statistics Canada: www.statcan.ca E-Stat Remote login  Username: uppercan PW: estat
University of Michigan Library of Statistics http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html
Nation Master www.nationmaster.com
Sample Projects

Some sample project write-ups are available at http://www.brocku.ca/cmt/mdm4u/asprojects/index.html
Note: the write-up format is not the same as is required for your project
Other Useful Information
Your textbook has some useful information for working on your final project.
 The introduction on pages vii to xvi
 Various Project Connections on 29, 66, 85, 93, 110, 151, 197, 266, 303, 383
1. Scheduling and Due Dates
Scheduling


Draw up a calendar. Set due dates. Leave “mess up” time.
Think things through thoroughly before you get started. Make sure that all pieces will work. Good planning
saves time in the end.
Due Dates



Proposal – Thurs, Nov 24th
Presentations – Tues, Dec 6th
Final Written Report – on or before Tues. Dec 6th
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2. Proposal Phase
Proposal Requirements – Due Thursday, Nov 24th, 2011
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
An outline describing the procedure you took in researching and gathering the data [3]
Thesis – your main thesis question/statement and the sub-problems you are going to answer. [5]
Population, Sample (if applicable) [3]
Analyze – Explain each of the following: What are the main variables in your question? [3] Can
these variables be measured statistically? [2] Is there enough data to make an interesting analysis?
[2]
Hypothesis - What do you expect to find / observe? [2]
I need to know how the researchers got their data. OR 2) the survey that you are going to use. [5]
HINT: Start your Bibliography as soon as you find your first useful web site. Trying to go back
and find information later is a nightmare.
If you have problems gathering ANY of these components SEE ME. You've likely
chosen a difficult topic and it needs to be changed.
Almost EVERY problem that I have seen on final projects was because of an incomplete or poorly done proposal
phase. The following flawed projects have been seen in past Data Management courses:




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Projects that were far too large in scope. A research team of 100 working for 25 years would be unable to
prove causation in the way that these students wished to do. This happens most often with projects like
drunk driving, teenage pregnancy or economic problems. Choose less glamorous and smaller topics that
you can find data about.
Projects which attempted to prove causation instead of correlation.
Projects whose entire body of evidence was based on the unreliable sources from the Internet. They made
no attempt to figure out where their sources' data came from.
Projects where random sampling involved giving a survey to everyone in their class.
Projects where the students developed their surveys first and their research questions second. They ended
up not asking the correct survey questions and were unable to prove their point.
3. Written Report Format
Your report should have the following sections:
1. Title Page
-
Thesis, Name, Date, Course Code: MDM 4U, Teacher’s Name
Relevant picture or graphic
NOT numbered
2. Table of Contents
-
Include section headings and page numbers
NOT numbered
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3. Summary
-
-
-
Do not write this until you are finished your project!
Page numbering starts here (1) – insert a section break
In one page, briefly summarize your entire report.
A summary section is something that would be read by a manager who didn’t have enough time to read
the entire report, so make sure that you have enough details that it can stand by itself.
At the very least, include the following information:
- Problem: A clear statement of what you are trying to learn
- Plan: The procedure you will use to carry out the study (How do you choose people? How do
you measure? Who does the measuring? What methods are you going to use?)
- Data: The data are collected according to the plan (What data did you collect? Where did it
come from?)
- Analysis: The data are summarized and analyzed to answer the thesis question (numerical,
graphical, informative sentences)
- Conclusions are drawn about what has been learned (note any biases, suggest further studies)
4. Problem



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
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Main thesis question. The thesis question is the theme of your report (e.g. What is the relationship between an
NBA player’s salary and their success?). Try to use the word “relationship” in your thesis question. Remember,
you do not have the tools to try and find any cause and effect.
Sub-questions: The sub-questions are the smaller questions that you will answer that will lead you to conclude
on your main thesis question. These should be specific enough that they contain your variables that you will
compare. The problems may evolve slightly throughout the life of your project. (e.g. What is the relationship
between salary and a player’s points per game? What is the relationship between salary and a player’s rebounds
per game? What is the relationship between salary and the number of games that a player has won?)
Hypothesis – What do you expect to find?
Define the population and describe the characteristics of the population (e.g. all players in the NBA that
played at least 70 games during the 2006-07 regular season).
Define the independent variables (e.g. points per game in 2006-07 NBA regular season, rebounds per game in
2006-07 NBA regular season)
Define the dependent variables (e.g. player salary).
5. Plan



Select the sampling method and justify your choice
Design and explain the Experiment/Survey/Questionnaire/Data Collection process.
Identify any possible biases
NOTE: if the data is not your own, you need to find out as much of the above information as possible and point out
the parts that you don’t know.
6. Data



Put all of your raw data collected in an appendix, not in this section
Include summaries of your data collection here (frequency tables – but not histograms or graphs)
Identify all possible problems you ran into with your data (Did you need to manipulate it to use it in Excel? Did
you alter the scale?)
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7. Analysis
For each sub-question identified, use the statistics we learned in class to describe the data or find
trends/relationships. Only use those that are relevant.
(a) Numerical Statistics (you must include at least 3)
 Find means, modes, and medians
 Find the standard deviation, Q1 , Q3 , IQR, percentiles




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Use linear regression and find the correlation coefficient, equation of a line of best fit
Use non-linear regression and find the coefficient of determination, equation of a curve of best fit
Relate your data to the Normal Distribution, Binomial Distribution or another distribution.
Use z-scores and z-tables to find some useful information.
Permutations, Combinations and Probability:
- Predict the probability of certain events using your model
- Do something else relating to probability
- Use a simulation to help you discover a probability
- Use the binomial theorem
(b) Graphical Representations (you must include at least 3)
 Scatter plots (this should be included in every project as you will be finding many relationships)
 Bar graph / histogram / frequency polygon (histogram + curve) / cumulative frequency polygon (each freq. is a
cumulative total) / relative frequency polygon (freq. as a %) / line graph / moving average
 Box and whisker
(c) Information – descriptive sentences. This part is very important and often overlooked by students. Don’t just
provide numbers and statistics. Be sure to interpret them for the reader. What do the numbers tell you?
8. Conclusion



Draw conclusions that directly relate to your thesis.
Note any biases that you believe occurred in your study.
Make suggestions for further/follow-up studies or any modifications that would make to the current study.
9. Bibliography
Web sites cited using APA format. General format/sequence:
Author. (Date published if available; n.d. (no date) if not). Title of article. Title of web site . Retrieved date. From
URL.
See http://www.liu.edu/CWIS/CWP/library/workshop/citapa.htm for other kinds of media.
10. Appendices



Actual data set you used (or the data set you gathered)
Sample questionnaires that have actually been filled out if you used primary data
Glossary with key terms unique to your project
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4. Final Project Rubric
Name: ______________________
Date: _________
MDM4U - Summative Report Rubric
Criteria
Level 0-1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Title Page
Title is not
representative of
the topic and/or
missing 3 or more
key components of
a title page.
Title is lacking
insight and/or
missing 2 of
the key
components of
a title page.
Title is okay or
missing one of
the key
components of a
title page.
Interesting title,
includes name, course
code, date and
teacher’s name
Table of contents Not done or done
incorrectly.
NA
NA
Report format
2 formatting
items not
completed
1 formatting item All formatting
not completed
guidelines were
followed.
3 or more
formatting items
not completed
Includes a relevant
picture or graphic
Total
2
Lists the main sections
of the report and the
pages on which they
2
are found
4
Summary
Includes Problem,
Plan, Data,
Analysis and
Conclusion
Limited
effectiveness
Some
effectiveness
Considerable
effectiveness
Highly effective
4
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Problem
Limited
effectiveness
Some
effectiveness
Considerable
effectiveness
Highly effective
Thesis and SubQuestions are
clear and concise
Population and
characteristics
are described
All independent
and dependent
variables are
defined
Fish Bone
Diagram is
thorough
12
Plan
sampling method
Limited
effectiveness
Some
effectiveness
Considerable
effectiveness
Highly effective
measurement
technique
possible biases
Data
Includes
summary of data
8
Limited
effectiveness
Some
effectiveness
Considerable
effectiveness
Problems with
data are
summarized
Highly effective
4
Analysis of
Limited
problem (stats of effectiveness.
1 variable)
Analysis was
incomplete and
ineffective at
communicating
understanding
Some
Considerable
effectiveness. effectiveness.
Use a small
number of
techniques
from the course
to analyze the
problem.
Highly effective. Uses
a large variety of
different mathematical
techniques to analyze
the data that was
obtained or collected
in order to solve the
8
thesis problem
Analysis of
problem
(regression)
Some
Considerable
effectiveness. effectiveness.
Use a small
number of
techniques
from the course
to analyze the
problem.
Highly effective. Uses
a large variety of
different mathematical
techniques to analyze
the data that was
obtained or collected
in order to solve the
8
thesis problem
Limited
effectiveness.
Analysis was
incomplete and
ineffective at
communicating
understanding
-6-
Results
Reports findings
in graphical form
and in textual
form when
necessary.
Limited
effectiveness
Some
effectiveness
Considerable
effectiveness
Highly effective.
Comments
thoroughly on the
results
Results are
presented in a
logical and
sequential
manner.
8
Use of
mathematical
terminology and
notation
Mathematical
content
Uses terminology or Usually uses
notation
correct
inconsistently or
terminology
incorrectly; makes and notation;
major errors
may make
minor errors
Consistently uses
correct
terminology and
notation
Presents material
with mathematical
content that is
incorrect or
incomplete; major
errors or omissions
Presents
material with
mathematical
content that is
generally
correct and
complete; may
have minor
errors or
omissions
Presents material
with
mathematical
content that is
completely
correct and
complete
Presents the
mathematical
content in a
fairly logical
manner; minor
steps may be
omitted
Presents the
mathematical
content in a
logical manner.
Logical Reasoning Presents the
mathematical
content in an
illogical manner;
major steps are
omitted or
significant leaps
required to follow
development
Consistently uses
correct terminology
and notation which
enhances the
presentation
4
Presents material with
mathematical content
that is completely
correct, complete and
always pertinent to
the report.
4
Presents the
mathematical content
in a logical manner,
with all steps clearly
shown.
4
-7-
Conclusion
Student restates
and summarizes
in a clear manner
what the overall
results of the
work discovered
or did not
discover and
states and
comments on any
limitations of the
analysis.
Future Work
Student outlines,
in detail, where
the project could
go if it were
analyzed further.
Limited
effectiveness
Some
effectiveness
Considerable
effectiveness
Highly effective.
8
Limited
effectiveness
Some
effectiveness
Considerable
effectiveness
Highly effective.
States some
limitations of the
analysis.
Appendix &
Glossary
4
Limited
effectiveness
Some
effectiveness
Considerable
effectiveness
Highly effective.
Student includes
appendices with
data tables of the
raw data when
necessary.
Uses a small font
to reduce the
total number of
pages used.
2
86 marks total
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