Report 2 Model Paper

I know this is a wee bit late, but it still may help some of you. I'm posting an example of a model paper done for Report 2. As with the first model paper, this report is not perfect and there were others who also wrote great reports. However, for some of you this may be a helpful guide about how to improve your own written research communication. The cover page has been removed to protect the identify of this second (and different) author of a model report.

model report 2 download

Report 3 Structure

I'm posting the Report 3 Structure document I passed out and discussed at our last class. This document provides key hints for how to structure your last report—with special attention given to where you'll add key bits of text to accommodate your correlational analyses. This affects the Research Questions, Results, and Discussion sections mainly. In total, addressing correlation probably adds about three paragraphs to your final report.

report 3 structure download

Final Dig and Problem Set

The final knowledge dig and problem set are ready! See sidebar for direct links to each assignment. Problem Set 9 has 5 questions. You only need to complete questions 1 through 3 for the final submission. I encourage all of you to try questions 4 and 5 before our last class. We'll go over all of these questions, however, at our last class session.

s_pooled Revisited

Many of your spreadsheets are in great shape, but where some people have the most problems is calculating s_pooled. I think this is mainly because it is the longest formula and the most complicated to double-check because it uses so many parentheses. As an optional download I'm providing a big one page handout, with color coding, showing two different ways you could calculate s_pooled in your spreadsheets. I hope this helps some of you. For others, this is another reference that may make future spreadsheet work a wee bit easier.

s_pooled revisited pdf download

Banner Image Survey

I've created a super short survey about banner images. Remember this website used to have a banner image? I removed it about two weeks ago so you could have the experience (pre/post) of seeing a website with banner image and without. Now let me know which is the better version for you! In turn this will help me tremendously as I design course websites for next semester. The survey needs to be completed before you leave class tonight.

banner image survey link

Report 2 Feedback Completed!

I have just sent out the last feedback packages to students this morning at 11. If you have not received an email from me with a feedback download link then I have an incorrect email address for you, my email is in your spam or junk folder, or something else weird happened. Put differently, contact me immediately about getting your feedback sent out again if you haven't received anything.

The first round of feedback was sent out last Thursday, with groups of feedback also sent out at the end of the business day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This morning I completed feedback on the final round of research reports.

Each feedback package contains Raylene's handy spreadsheet rubric and score for your spreadsheet work, my written report rubric and markup of your written document, and an MP3 audio file where I talk through the areas of your report that need corrections or some additional improvement. I hope all of this is useful to each of you.

On Saturday we'll discuss what Report 3 will look like. Overall there will be relatively minor additions to the research questions section, to the results section, and (based on the results) possibly to the discussion section. These additions will all address an additional analysis using correlation.

Report 2 Feedback

I have started sending out feedback on your written reports and spreadsheets. Four feedback packages were sent out Friday, and another four sent today at noon. I'll be sending out a few feedback pages every day up through our next class session.

These are the people who have been sent feedback so far: Alicia, Cathy, Diana, Jennesis, Kathleen, Max, Nasa, and Toby. If one of you did not receive my email and the download link then please contact me as soon as possible about getting the feedback resent to you.

Cool Graphing Software

A new product was launched this fall named OmniGraphSketcher. It's a great Mac-only product for creating graphs. While it will do all sorts of graphs, one of the things it does especially well it how it displays correlation and regression information. I'll demo this in class.

There's no need to buy this software, and products like MS Excel offer very decent graphic capabilities also. But OmniGraphSketcher has a guiding vision for its development that seems focused on the right kinds of things. The programmer for this product, Robin, recently wrote:

The first part of the vision has to do with quantitative ideas. Quantitative means that scale is relevant. It means it’s valid to say that one thing is twice as big, far, tall, fast, costly, or experienced as another. Quantitative ideas are central to scientific disciplines and an important part of most business and policy issues. Thinking quantitatively allows us to understand and predict how different parts of the world relate to each other in a precise manner. How will higher taxes affect the local economy? How will this ratio of chemicals change the battery’s charging time? How does this bridge react to increasingly larger loads?

I emphasize ideas because quantitative knowledge is not limited to what traditional software tools have focused on: numerical data and equations. Sometimes knowledge is less specific. For example, you might just have a rough idea of how different price points affect the number of sales. Or you might know how a new material behaves at room temperature but have only an intuition about what happens above 100 degrees. These quantitative ideas could be a precursor to a more precise theory, or they could be as precise as they need to be, given the messiness of the real world.

The second part of the vision is communicating those ideas visually. That’s because often, the best way to explain a quantitative idea is through a picture. This is true whether you have data, equations, or imprecise quantitative notions. Would you rather have a table with 240 numbers, or a visual plot of that data?

To read the full post (which is definitely worth a quick read) just use the link below. If you are a Mac-user and are interested in this software, you can buy it at the academic price of $19.95.

omnigraphsketcher: the vision

Staying on Top of Research

I've just posted a new blog entry over at my personal website about various software tools to help you keep on top of organizing research articles. I've included DevonThink Professional for Mac-users, but also present three options for Windows-users. If interested, check out this overview article:

staying-on-top-of-research article

You want graphics? We've got graphics!

Indexed_example, originally uploaded by Mathew Mitchell.

You want 'em, well they are coming soon! But in the meantime I thought some of you might appreciate the comic strip named Indexed. These comics are developed by Jessica Hagy. Above is an example of her work. Each day a new index card chart is posted. I thought many of you might relate to this one card particularly well.

Session 7 Live Audio

I'm posting the audio from our class today for the "sickies" who missed class (Andrew, Rhonda, and Cathy). If you were at class and you want to download, then you're also welcome. I'm posting the audio at the Session 7 t-test page, but also just below:

session 7 live audio download

Banner Image Removed

I'm trying an experiment. For some of you it may be easier to navigate the website if the banner image or header image is removed. I'd like to hear feedback about whether you prefer the banner image, or prefer the website as it is now (without banner image). After our next class I'll change back to a banner image showing if that's the preference of the class.

Saturday experiment

Today's class will employ a little experiment. Most of the class I'll have an EtherPad screen in front of us. This allows those in the class (and perhaps one or two who are sick at home) to engage in live comments and questions. I don't know how it will really work in practice but this is an easy tool to implement. I'll describe more in class.

For the time being you may want to check out this afternoon's interactive whiteboard brought to you by EtherPad (below). Please let me know if you have any problems accessing the EtherPad page link.

session 7 whiteboard link

Submitting Report 2

Reports need to be submitted by noon on Saturday November 7th. Please submit electronically using the Uploads page. You can upload both documents at the same time.

Remember that we need your report document in PDF format and your spreadsheet documents in their original format (Excel, Numbers, or whatever spreadsheet program you are using). All Mac-users can save their report as a PDF directly from the print dialog box in any application they are using. Many of the Windows-users will be able to save directly to PDF from within Word (if using the newest version). Some Windows-users may need to create their PDF using the wonderful and free conversion service provided at Zamzar.com.

Session 8 Materials Ready

All of the learning materials for Session 8 on correlation are ready to download. Make sure you can download these items before this upcoming Saturday class. If you experience problems, then let me know. I'll bring a USB flash drive that you can use to transfer the materials to your computer in class.

session 8 page link

Raylene the Statistics Coach

Although I've posted Raylene Potter's contact information a couple times earlier in the semester, some people are still asking about her contact info. So, to make it super awesome easy I've added her contact info to the sidebar area on the right. Notice just under the due soon sidebar entries you now see an area titled statistics coach that gives both Raylene's email and phone information. I hope this is useful to some of you that haven't contacted Raylene before but now wish to use her services.