AP Stat Project Results 2004

1. In the game “rock, paper, scissors, shoot”, there is a relationship between what a player “plays” (rock, paper or scissors) on the draw after a win, with respect to what they played on their winning draw. Although after winning with rock the three choices were equally chosen, after winning with scissors over 50% played paper and after winning with paper over 50% played scissors.

2. When given a nonverbal choice between answering a simple questionnaire on blue paper or white paper, there was no statistical preference in color. 55% of the students chose blue and 45% chose white. In a separate analysis there was no relationship between gender and color preference.

3. 28% of pedestrians who passed by, and saw, a quarter lying on the ground, on the walkway in front of Fleet Bank near Stop & Shop, picked it up and put it in their pocket.

4. In a double blind taste test, 60% of students who say they prefer Poland Spring water over Dasani, Aquafina and Deer Park, chose Stop & Shop bottled water over Poland Springs.

5. In a test to see if the starting square chosen to play tic-tac-toe is dependent on the grade level of the player, it was determined that there is no relationship. For the record, the middle square was chosen most often, 24 out of 49 times.

6. In the directions of what appeared to be an IQ test, there was a statement that said to mark all answers “c”. In the comparison of student and teacher’s willingness and ability to read and follow such “hidden” directions, it was determined that there is a statistical difference between the percentage of teachers and students who followed that direction. In fact, 40% of teachers followed the “c” directions and only 9% of students did so.

7. 16% of students, who walked behind a female in the hallways of THS and who saw her drop a dollar bill, picked up the bill and kept it. 66% of the students got the female student’s attention to tell her that she dropped the bill and 18% saw the bill and passed it by apathetically.

8. After positioning their body directly toward the other goal line, students starting from the middle of the field on the opposing goal line, walked blindfolded, an average of 69 yards before stepping out of bounds. 3 of 21 students were able to reach the other goal line before going out of bounds. There was no statistical difference in the yards walked by girls versus boys.