Quantitative Methods Final Research Project  (30% of Final Grade)

Due May 10th before midnight on LEA

Project objective

You are an investigative journalist tasked with writing a thorough analysis describing the tragic accident in a social science journal. You should keep in mind that the reader has very little to no knowledge of the data; what becomes obvious to you is of total mystery to the reader. It is your primary job to give the reader a clear picture of:

1) the passenger socio-economic landscape aboard the Titanic, and,

2) discuss the factors that influence the rate of passenger death and survival revealed by the data.

You are expected to consider the impact of THREE variables of your choice (one nominal, one ordinal and one interval) on Survival. We will call those three variables “socio-economic variables”; because that’s what they are.

You have at your disposal the potential of producing and visualizing many statistics. You do not want to overcrowd your research with statistics and claims. Not all variables deserve the same amount of attention. It is your job to decide how much information you want to present.

Structure of Project

Submission: For this research project, you will create two Word documents: a Research Report and an Appendix. The research report will include your introduction, discussion, and conclusion, while the appendix will include all the figures which you’ll be refer to in your discussion. You will start with the appendix.

Appendix

Before writing your research report, decide which figures will be needed in your analyses. This should be the first thing you do.

I expect proper formatting, labeling; etc. Presentation quality is key: failure to adequately label variables in charts or omitting the modification of numerical categories with their proper meaning will result in lost points.

Use the Variable Dictionary worksheet in the excel file for variable definitions. For example, Survived with categories 0 and 1, the 0 and 1 should be replaced with Yes and No.

Do not include any tables (no frequency distribution tables nor crosstabulations). Only include Charts with Data Labels ON. This will help reduce the amount of repeated information.

Introduction (100–150 words)

The introduction should give the reader an outline of your subsequent discussion. In other words, this paragraph will incorporate the research questions you’ve have chosen for yourself; that is, which variables interaction you will be discussing.

Discussion (350–450 words)

You are expected to perform an analysis on each variable individually.

Then, you will consider twointeractions between the socio-economic variables

After that you will consider how the three socio-economic variables impact survival.

• Analyze each variable individually and explain to the reader in a concise and clear manner how each variable behaves. Think of the big picture and focus on key properties. overcrowding your discussion with numbers that do not add to the story you are trying to tell (such as listing everything) won’t work!

• (Recommended) To help you think, write down a couple of bullet points, in full sentence form, containing the statistics that supplement your observations. Always keep the big picture in mind! After writing several good points, reorganize them in order of importance (you decide what is important) then combine them into a cohesive text.

Conclusion (150–200 words)

In your conclusion, you should discuss the overall implications of your analysis. In particular:

• Highlight your main results and how they answer your research questions.

• Avoid presenting new information: the conclusion is not where you expose more information, but where you tie together the information that you have already presented.

Directives and warnings:

1) Write clearly, coherently and follow proper grammar. If your writing seems like a first draft or evidently unedited you will cost you a penalty of up to 30% of the grade.

2) Always refer to the appropriate statistics when making claims and which chart those values come from.