Statistics Paper

As discussed previously, in lieu of a final exam, you will write a brief reflection paper about how one of the key takeaways from this course relates to your major or career path.

The most important takeaways from this course are:

Descriptive Statistics
Data Visualization
Inferential Statistics
Regression Analysis and Modeling

Find a case study, journal article, or other reliable resource that lists a specific application of one of these topics within your major or desired career path. Use that resource as a foundation for your paper, bringing in other resources as needed.

The goal is to study a given topic in slightly more depth than we have previously, not to offer surface level knowledge on the topic. We have worked a lot of example exercises, some of which may have seemed abstract. The bit of research involved for this paper should hopefully add more context to a given statistics topic.

As an example, if your major were Political Science (I use this as an example because none of you are Political Science majors), it would be inappropriate to produce a final paper entitled “How Statistics Are Used in Political Science.” It’s simply too broad of a topic, and because of the length of the final paper (2 pages minimum), it could likely be completed by a Political Science major without any additional research. A better topic – for a Political Science major – might be one of the following:

“Were the 2016 Presidential Polls Wrong?”
“Visualizing the Effects of Gerrymandering on Election Outcomes”
“Quantifying the Impact of the 2020 CARES Act”

To be clear, none of these topics require statistical analysis on your part (you can add that if you’d like, though). Instead, you would start with a reputable article from a researcher or journalist, and summarize it then build on it. You could also find competing views on a topic and compare or contrast them. You could even find a great example of a data visualization, infographic, or dashboard and discuss why it’s so impactful and how it does a great job of telling a story with the data.

I am very flexible both on the topic you choose and the resources you use. I’d love to help you brainstorm ideas that are interesting to you.

Some requirements:

A minimum of 2 pages, double spaced. Charts and graphs are great additions, but they don’t count toward the length requirement.

At least 1 citation to a newspaper, journal article, documentary, or other reputable resource (APA format).

Any plagiarism will result in a 0 for the assignment (similarity scores above 10% are subject to close scrutiny) and an academic integrity violation form filed with the Dean’s office. If in doubt, ask me before submitting.