AP Statistics Experiment Project
The purpose of this project is for you to have the chance to research an existing (already completed) major experiment or observational study. You must be able to find out a great deal about the experiment or observational study (not just an article alluding to its conclusions), especially its methodology. Find out as much as you can about how the terms in chapter 4 of your book apply. You will be presenting your final results and experiment to the class.
Here is an outline for your paper (3 pages):
1. Source of article/report, including a web address if you have it
2. One sentence summary of the article/study
3. Background of the study (the w’s: who, what, why)
4. Objective of the study or experiment
5. Type of study: randomized experiment, non-randomized experiment, observational study, metaanalysis (examination of several earlier studies
6. Methodology: This should include the setting of the study, a description of the experimental units (subjects), treatments used, method of treatment assignment, blindness, the population to which the results are generalized, the outcome measurements or responses, control variables (blocking), summary of non-response or other problems, other pertinent facts
7. Analysis: How did the researchers analyze the data? You may run into the names of some tests or other terms that you’re not familiar with… please include them anyway.
8. Stated conclusions, from the original report if possible
9. Generalization and discussion: Difficulties of generalizing to the real world and/or other problems with the study. How do the results relate to the rest of the scientific literature? If you originally learned about the study through an article, do you feel the article summarized the report accurately? Were the conclusions overstated? Did the article point out potential flaws in the experiment, or conflicts with other studies?
Monday, May 15th: Submit a one-page draft… bullets are fine. Can be hand written NEATLY.#6 with terminology is probably the most important part (should be 1-2 paragraphs)… if you’re having trouble finding out how the study was carried out, scrap it and find something with more in depth sources.
Friday, May 19th: Submit your 3-page paper.
*If you are not exempting the final exam you must be present on the day of your scheduled final and present your project.
*If you are exempting the final you will be presenting before finals during a regular class day. Exemptions will not be signed until you have submitted your report and presented to the class. This is a summative grade and must be entered before you can qualify for exemption.
Presentations do not require a visual however if it will help the class (or me) understand the study/experiment better you may want to show pictures or a short video pertaining to your project. Be prepared to answer questions from the class and me about your project. Presentations should be no longer than 5 minutes (maybe a little more if you are showing a video).
Your first task is to narrow the field down to a topic that you would like to research and then to find some good sources of information that will make writing the paper easy.
On the back of this page is a list of ideas. You may get additional ideas from searching the web or topics covered in your book. Some of these ideas refer to specific studies, and others to general areas about which studies exist(so they can be broken into multiple different topics to research).
Each person must have a different topic. Topics must be approved by me BEFORE beginning your project or you risk having to redo your project if someone has already taken your topic.
The history of how the causal relationship between smoking and various diseases came out (a big
and fascinating topic)
Polio experiments -
The Framingham heart study -
Tuskegee syphilis study (basis of the 1997 movie Miss Evers’ Boys) -
Milgram experiment and related experiment reenacted on NBC Dateline -
Stanford prison experiment -
Asch conformity experiments -
Belmont report (our nation’s gold standard dictating the ethics of research) -
Clinical trials (how do drugs or procedures get tested and come to be used?) -
Racism in traffic stops (2004-2005 study in Rhode Island)
Fast food and obesity -
Angioplasties and stents - necessary?useful? controversial? (2007)
Ethical questions in studies done in Africa on how to prevent HIV transmission (1997)
Nyanza chemical waste dump in Ashland, MA (basis of the 1998 movie A Civil Action)
Arthroscopic knee surgery and placebo surgery
Passive smoking and respiratory health
Spousal abuse and police intervention
Day care’s effects on children -
Effects of class size on student learning
Placebos and antidepressants
Canadian study on the influence of TV
Ethics of clinical trials for schizophrenics
Elizabeth Loftus' and John C. Palmer's car crash experiment -- can leading questions produce
false memories ?
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab
Effects of drone strikes on terrorism –
Experiment Project Rubric
You will receive a summative grade, 4 formatives, and a final grade (if you do not exempt)for this project. The summative grade (and final grade) breakdown are as follows. The formative grades will consist ofparticipation in class, bringing materials to work on in class, staying on task, etc. If you do not have anything to work on or you choose not to work during class time you will receive a zero for that day. I make the final determination as to what constitutes truly working during class.
Project topic approval ______/10
Outline Due 5/15______/25
(-10 pts for every day late)
Final Paper Due 5/19______/55
(3 pages)
Presentation______/10
Total______/100