MATH 1040 – FINAL PROJECT
Research Question

For SLCC (Utah) Summer 2013
students, is the number of concurrent
class credits a student takes in high
school related to the number of years it
takes for a student to graduate with their
Associate’s degree?
Study Design

Cluster Sample
 We separated the population into clusters of
individual classes that were offered at SLCC
during the summer of 2013 and then took a
random sample of these clusters
○ 1871 classes offered at SLCC (in Utah) during
summer of 2013
○ Randomly chose 12 of these classes using a
random number generator 
Choosing our Clusters

12 Randomly Generated
Numbers












16
18
389
450
510
778
1130
1219
1267
1345
1524
1544

12 Corresponding
Classes
 BIOL 1010-01
 BUS 1010-01
 MEEN 2665-02
 ART 1200-01
 ART 1135-01
 MATH 1995-03
 COMM 1010-014
 ECON 2010-003
 NSG 1350-001
 AMTT 1160-001
 PSY 1010-009
 ENGL 1010-014
Our Survey
We gave this survey to
EVERY INDIVIDUAL within
each of our 12 clusters
(classes).
The number of concurrent
classes taken in high school
was determined by the
answer to question 1.
The number of years it takes
for a student to graduate with
their Associate’s Degree was
determined by adding the
numbers from question s 2 &
3.
Our Data Table (a small segment)
# of concurrent class credits
taken in High School
# of years to graduate with
Associates Degree
0
4
0
3
0
3
3
2.5
4
3.5
…
…
STATISTICS

# of concurrent class credits a student takes in HS
 Mean:






2.2273
Standard Deviation:
3.8280
Five Number Summary:
Min = 0, Q1 = 0, Median = 1, Q3 = 3, Max = 35
Range:
35
Mode:
0
Outliers:
8, 9, 9, 9, 10, 12, 12, 20, 20, 35
# of years for student to graduate with Associate’s degree
 Mean:





2.9005
Standard Deviation:
1.1104
Five Number Summary:
Min = 1.3, Q1 = 2, Med = 3, Q3 = 3.5, Max = 11
Range:
9.7
Mode:
2
Outliers:
11
Frequency Histograms
Skewed Right
Skewed Right
Relative Frequency Histograms
BoxPlots
# of concurrent classes a
student took in HS
# of years it takes a student to
graduate with Associate’s degree
Correlation
Linear Correlation Coefficient (r):
- .1452
Equation for Line of Regression:
y = -.0421x + 2.9943
Analysis

Our linear correlation coefficient:
(r) = - .1452
 Our r value means there is a very weak
negative correlation between the two
variables
○ As the number of concurrent class credits
goes up, the number of years it takes to obtain
an Associate’s degree goes down
DF
(degree of freedom)
& Critical Value

N = 1871 (population)
n = 12 (sample)

df = n – 2 = 12 - 2

  df = 10

Statistical Significance =
.05
Statistical
Significan
ce (p)
.05
…
…
9
.602
10
.576
11
.553
…
…
 Critical value = .576
Reject or Fail to Reject the Null Hypothesis???

Null Hypothesis: There is no relationship between the
number of concurrent classes a student takes in high school
and the time it takes a student to graduate with their
Associate’s degree.

Is | r | > critical value?
 | r | = .1452
 Critical value = .576
○ NO
  Fail to reject null hypothesis
What does this mean???

Although there is a slight negative
correlation with an r value of -.1452
within our sample, there is no statistical
evidence that this same correlation
exists within our population.
 Far less than 95% of the relationship we
found among our sample of 12 classes will
also exist in the population of 1871 classes.
Conclusion

We fail to reject the null hypothesis. There is no
correlation/relationship between the number of
concurrent class credits a student takes in high
school and the number of years it takes a student to
obtain their Associate’s degree for SLCC (Utah)
summer 2013 students.
Problems/Difficulties
Should have given the survey to more
than 12 out of the 1871 clusters to get a
better sample of the population
 Should have used ‘graduates’ instead of
‘current students’ to get accurate
information
 Several lurking variables

Participants

Kiersten, Kimberly, Timothy, Markee
 We all worked collaboratively on this. All
parts were done and checked equally by all
members of the group.