Project Tasks

Your group must accomplish several tasks in the course of the study.

1.

Decide what to study. First, you must have something to study. Your study will probably be better and will certainly be more enjoyable if you choose something that interests you. One important requirement to keep in mind when deciding what to study is that the responses you use for this study must be quantative. You will have until March 23 to decide what to study, but you should begin thinking about and discussing it with your group as soon as possible.

2.

Do a pilot study. A pilot study is a study done prior to the main study. You may conduct a pilot study for one or more of the following reasons:

• As an exploratory study to familiarize yourself with the subject matter and to identify topics and specific questions to be explored in the main study. A pilot study can also help you decide what data to collect and how to collect them. As such, the pilot study need not be a designed study, but may rely on available data.
• To obtain valuable information on population parameters. For example, you may obtain estimates of population variances needed to determine sample sizes for the main study.
• To get the bugs out of the whole operation. By conducting a pilot study, you will find out which parts of the operational plan work and which don't. You can then revise the plan as necessary for the main study.

3.

Design the main study. The data collected must be suitable to answering the question(s) you are asking. Data must be collected in a manner that will allow valid statistical inferences to be drawn. The material of Chapters 1 and 3 will be particularly useful in making these decisions.

4.

Collect the data for the main study.

5.

Analyze the results. This involves checking model assumptions and drawing inferences. It might also require that more or different data be obtained.

6.

Draw your conclusions.

7.

Write your report.