AP Statistics Current Event Assignment Due Tuesday, 9/13/16

(Will count as half a summative grade)

Find a current mention of a study, survey, or experiment. You may use print or online sources. You may have to do some research to look up the actual write-up of something mentioned in the news.

You are encouraged to find a current event that has to do with something you’re interested in. It should be relatively easy to find something that has to do with politics or medicine. Your source does not have to be a “hard” news source; you may run into something in a popular magazine or on websites. Keep in mind that you will have to find out details about the study or experiment, so you might have to look around.

You will write a short report about the study or experiment. Your report must contain:

—A short summary of the study or experiment

  • Who conducted it and when?
  • What question is it trying to answer?
  • What are the results?

—Commentary about the design

  • For a study/survey:
  • What population was the study trying to learn about?
  • Who or what made up the sample?
  • Can you tell how the sample was chosen? Do you know how well the sample really represents the population?
  • What are possible biases that may have affected the outcome? Were they avoided?
  • If this is a survey, what were the questions? How were they asked?
  • For an experiment:
  • Can you tell what kind of experimental design was used? Was it blinded?
  • Who or what were the experimental units (subjects)?
  • What lurking variables might have affected the outcome of the experiment? Were they controlled for?

—Speculation about the use of the data

  • Do the people behind the study or experiment have a vested interest in the outcome? How might that affect how they conducted it?
  • Even if there doesn’t seem to be any bias present, how could someone “spin” the results to favor one side or another?

Your report should be about a page to two pages, typed (12-pt font) and double-spaced. The report should not just be a list of answers to the guiding questions above. Imagine you are explaining where data comes from to the general public.

You must have a copy of your paper and print source.

Due in class Tuesday, September 13, 2016