A GUIDE TO A GOOD

STATISTICAL I.A.
Part 1 (Intro)

Done by STATS + IA + me 
 ORDER OF PRESENTATION
 Introduction to statistics/Statistical  Descriptive Statistics
Studies  Standardized Scores
 Designing a good Statistical Studies  Measures of Association
 Planning
 SBA Session
 Development
 Sampling
 Instrumentation
 Pilot
 Final Assembly
 What is Statistics?

Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing and analysing DATA and

interpreting INFORMATION from the analysis to form conclusions, predictions and

generalizations on some target group.

 Tha dabate! Data is
Information….
 Data: observed findings which has no use by itself

 Information: processed data, which has value by itself

http://www.differencebtw.com/difference-between-data-and-
information/
 Why Statistics?

Consider the Microscope…. It helps us to see very small things

Consider the Telescope…… it helps us to see things that are too far away

Likewise is statistics, it helps us to understand the behaviour of groups too large

to study as a group. (in a general sense it makes things more obvious)
 Examples of Statistics
 Between 2010 – 2017, there was a 68.3 percent increase in obese students between
the ages of 13 – 15 years in Jamaica.
 The Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey (2016 – 2017) found that 54% of Jamaicans
were overweight/obese.
 More than two thirds of Jamaican teens (13 – 17) consume at least one carbonated
drink daily.
 71% of Jamaicans support a tax on sugary drinks

Do you notice anything?

 Misleading Statistics
Quite often, poor statistically practices lead to poor or misleading statistical results or
reports.

Outlined below are the five most common errors in statistics that lead to
misleading/poor statistical results.

 Equating causality and correlation

 Context not well defined
 Too many factors to consider
 Small sample space
 Poorly defined graphs
 A GUIDE TO A GOOD
STATISTICAL I.A.
(Part 2)

Planning, Development, Sampling, Instrumentation, Pilot, Final Assembly

A GUIDE TO A GOOD
STATISTICAL I.A.
PLANNING
Planning a Good Statistical I.A.

 START EARLY- Things will not always go as planned, so plan for the unexpected by
giving yourself and the students adequate time to work through any unforeseen
circumstances that MAY arise.
This helps to plan lessons and sessions that may aid in the completion of
the I.A. in a timely manner.

 Allot I.A. Sessions – Though it is true that sessions are already limited when
considering what must be taught, having I.A. sessions gives you a chance to
 Make one general explanation/announcement rather than many
 Students and teacher will come with the frame of mind to address (ATTACK) the I.A.
 You can observe patterns/trends/problems/concerns etc. and address them early.
 You will be able to assess the general needs of the class better.
Planning a Good Statistical
I.A.
 Set and Maintain DEADLINES for
 Drafts with specified contents
 (e.g. draft 1, up to Methodology, draft, 2 Calculations & graphs and draft 3,
Analysis, Interpretation, conclusion & recommendation. )
NB! If you have the flexibility, set any of the following as a graded assignment
 Final Projects
 Read widely – Ideas can come from anywhere.
A GUIDE TO A GOOD
STATISTICAL I.A.
DEVELOPEMENT
Selecting a Title

This is the last thing we do……… 

Selecting a Problem/Topic
(An Iterative Process)

“It should get better with practice… (me,

2017)”
Selecting a Problem/Topic
(An Iterative Process)
(cont’d)
What is a statistical problem/topic?

Any real world event that can be addressed or transformed into a single question
that can be used to capture data on the specific problem/topic, where the data
collected is varied, i.e. no one answer to a question can be given. All data points
in the pool are not the same.
Selecting a Problem/Topic
(An Iterative Process)

Problems/Topics may come from any of the following

 Opinions
 Interests
 Current events
 Further studies from previous studies
 Previous Studies
Selecting a Problem/Topic

(An Iterative Process) (cont’d)

Great Topics Normally possess the following
 Clarity
 Specific/Concrete
 Simple Language – non-technical words
 Well worded – a rule of thumb no more than a sentence
 Neutrality
 Ability to stimulate the interest of others
 Utility
 Current
 Replicable or can be continued
 Defensible
 Selecting a Problem/Topic
(An Iterative Process) (cont’d)
 Examples of not-so-good questions for a statistical problems:

        a) Are girls or boys taller?
        b) Is swimming more popular than ice hockey?

Why are these not-so-good….


       a) If you don’t put a limit on a target population you’re measuring, there will be
more to consider/do – are you trying to make a statement about all the girls and boys
in the world?
  
      b) In general, simple popularity contests don’t reveal interesting correlations for
statistical studies.
 Selecting a Problem/Topic
(An Iterative Process) (cont’d)
Example
If you want to try to cut down on the amount of homework your teachers assign
and ask the following questions: 

        a) On average, how much time do you spend each night on homework?
        b) Many kids are concerned about not having enough free time. Do you
agree?

Which question is biased?

 Selecting a Problem/Topic
(An Iterative Process) (cont’d)

Is the Following a Good Statistical Topic?

To examine the effects of Sugary Beverages on people….

How can it be made better?

 Type of Study
For Integrated Science, the I.A. expects one of three (3) designs. These
designs will become clear after the problem/topic (question) is decided on and
possesses the qualities of good problems/topics.

 Experimental
 Quasi-Experimental
 Non-Experimental
 Type of Study (cont’d)
Experimental Designs

Characteristics of the Experimental design are:

 The presence of two main groups
 Treatment – group manipulated by the researcher (often influenced by variable to
be studied)
 Control – group left in its natural state
 The researcher randomly assigns participants to each group.
 Type of Study (cont’d)
Quasi-Experimental Designs

Characteristics of the Quasi-Experimental design are:

 The presence of two main groups
 Treatment – group manipulated by the researcher (often influenced by variable be
studied)
 Control – group left in its natural state
 The researcher DOES NOT assign participants to each group.
 Type of Study (cont’d)

Non-Experimental Designs

Characteristics of the Non-Experimental design are:

 Sometimes has the presence of two main groups

 Treatment – group CANNOT BE manipulated by the researcher (often influenced by variable be studied)
 Control – group left in its natural state (not always present)
 An implication of the above is that experiments of this design includes single variable studies.
 The researcher DOES NOT assign participants to each group.

This design is often referred to as correlational studies.

 Type of Study (cont’d)
Which of the following is Experimental, Non-experimental or quasi-experimental

by design?

a) Comparing the incidence of bullying (because of weight) at a school with the incidence at a
similar school that has no antibullying program.

b) An Integrated Mathematics student who finds out whether each of several middle-school students
has been bullied (because of their weight) and then measures each student’s self-esteem.

c) A researcher selects 15 rats and place them in groups Junk Food + Soft drink, and “whole food” +
water and group 3 “regular rat food”. Groups 1 and 2 sleep times, meal time and exercise
schedule was enforced by the researcher. Group 3 was “free-for-all”.
 Methodological Approach

There are two types of approach one can take in designing

and carrying out a statistical research. They are

 Qualitative
 Quantitative

This USUALLY becomes clear after Instrumentation.

Methodological Approach
(QUALITATIVE vs QUANTITATIVE)
A GUIDE TO A GOOD
STATISTICAL I.A.
SAMPLING
 SAMPLING

There are two main groups we collect data on, these are population and sample. For
each, varied analytical tools are used.

 A population describes a group where all the members belong to a well defined set on
which we are collecting data. We use parameters to analyse a population.

However populations are usually large, hence it is harder to collect information from
all its members. So we often times use a sample to make inferences about the population.

 A sample is a subset of a population. A sample only uses some of the members in a

population, NOT all. We use statistics to analyse a sample.
 SAMPLING
Types
There are two main types of Sampling focus in the Integrated Math
I.A. These are

 Probability/Random Sampling- Each person in the population is likely to be

sampled.

 Non-Probability/non-Random Sampling. Each person in the population is NOT

likely to be sampled.
 Rule of Likeliness
The idea here is that all the members of the population must have an equal

likeliness to be chosen for the sample. This is generally referred to as an

unbiased sample, and must also represent the population. This will lessen the

errors.
 Rule of Likeliness
Example

There are 400 balls made on a daily basis at factory A. 300 of the balls are red
and 100 are blue. If we chose 100 of the balls at random, how many of the balls
would need to be red for the sample to be unbiased of the population?

Solution

Given that the percentage of red balls in the population is 75, then percentage of
red balls in the sample must also be 75. Therefore the number of red balls that
will make the sample unbiased is 75.
 SAMPLING
Methods

Random Number Generator – this is a software or device that is used to

generate a sequence, numbers or symbols that cannot be reasonably
predicted.

Random Number Table – this is now replaced by the random number

generator (RNG) and works similarly to the RNG, with the exception that one
would have to choose from the rows or columns of the table. No matter how
you choose a number, no two numbers are related.

Simple Random Sampling – describes the process of choosing a sample

where all items in the sample frame are equally likely to occur

Example: Choosing any three National Hardo Bread from the shelf of Hardo
Bread
 SAMPLING
Methods (cont’d)

Stratified Random Sampling – this is where each sample frame is divided

into different groups; each group having a similar trait. Then from each
group, a sample is selected (normally simple random sampling). Each group
is called a stratum.

Systematic Random Sampling – as the name suggests, there is some system

that we put in place to collect the data. Normally we order a list first, then
select the first q members on the list, then every other qth member after
that.

Cluster – this is where we simply assign members from the sample frame to
one and only one group. These groups are called clusters. We then draw an
analysis (sample) from one and only one cluster, so only individuals from
that particular cluster are used in analyzing the population.
 SAMPLING
Methods (cont’d)

How to sample

• Nature of population
• Resources available (time and money, personal, supplies)

Sampling Frame
This is the list of members from which a sample was taken.
A GUIDE TO A GOOD
STATISTICAL I.A.
INSTRUMENTATION
 Instrument Design
Questionnaire vs Survey

An instrument refers to written or oral sets of information used to gather information

on a problem/topic by administering the instrument to a well defined target (sample)

An Instrument may take one of two forms

 Questionnaire
 Written
 Used only to collect data (often times to be listed)
 Survey
 Process from instrumentation to analysis
 May be presented written or orally
 Instrument Design
Deducing Variables

Deducing variables; whether consciously or subconsciously, is the first step in

designing an instrument. This helps to identify the focus of the data gathering

process; what data is needed.

 Instrument Design
Item Design
 There are 2 formats items may take
 Open-ended
 Close-ended

 There are 4 types of items that can be asked

 Knowledge – What is the BMI of an overweight Male?
 Opinion – What do you think is the BMI (weight) of an overweight male?
 Behavior – Since being in grade 12, How often do you check your BMI?
 Proxy – Since being in grade 12, how often do your friends check their BMI’s?
 Instrument Design
Item Design (cont’d)

 Construct items that will gather information on Variable

 Every Item must be meaningful contributing to the analysis
 Do not put Just In case Questions.
 Questions Should be
 Specific and Concrete
 Simple
 Short with non-technical words
 Without Bias
 Avoid
 Doubled Barreled Item
 Answers not matching item
 Instrument Design
Item Design (cont’d)
E.g.

Does the incidents of students being bullied increase the more they are

perceived to be overweight by their peers?

A GUIDE TO A GOOD
STATISTICAL I.A.
PILOT
 Pilot
At this stage we test our instruments to see how well it captures the data we need it to.
Some common things to look out for are:

 Items that are not readily understood by participants.

 This can lead to frustrated participants who do not complete questionnaires or just select
responses carelessly just to get it over with.

 How well Items and responses match

 Time for each participant to compete questionnaire.

 Remember, we do no want it to take too long to complete a questionnaire. Aim for a
questionnaire that takes no more than 2 – 3 minutes.
 Pilot
 Issue the instrument to 3 – 5 persons from the target sample. Do it one person
at a time.
 Explain that you are just testing our instrument and would like their feed
back on the instrument
 While completing it, observe their responses (verbal or non-verbal) and
record them.
 Based on responses from the pilot, alter your
 Instrument
 Research Question
 Problem
 Topic
A GUIDE TO A GOOD
STATISTICAL I.A.
Final Assembly
 Final Assembly
This does not refer to the final script to be marked for a final grade, but rather the transcript of all
concepts, constructs and contexts that guides and drive the research. After this the student will
proceed to collect data. It is recommended that this be completed before data is collected.
At this stage students should be able to detail the following:

 Introduction
 Why this project
 Problem
 Nature

 Type/approach

 Aim
 Research Question
 Final Assembly (cont’d)
 Methodology  Type

 Design
 Justification

 Type
 Data Management
 Limitations  How

 Sampling
 When

 Type
 Codes

 Method
 Validity

 Frame
 Extraction

 Instrumentation