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Business Statistics Midterm and InstructionsContentsBusiness Statistics Midterm and Instructions..............................................................................................1

Questions to Answer in Your Video.............................................................................................................3

Deliverables.................................................................................................................................................4

Marking Rubric............................................................................................................................................5

Appendix 1 – Instructions for Completing the Work in Excel......................................................................6

Appendix 2 – Instructions for Recording and Uploading your Presentation..............................................10

It is recommended that you have done up to at least part 5 before doing this midterm.

In this midterm assignment, you will be asked to prepare a brief Excel spreadsheet and video based on data you have collected. You may work with a partner on this assignment.

1. Framing the Problem

First, you are framing what you want to find the relationship between. While you will not yet be doing it in this midterm, this is the ultimate goal for your final assignment.

You will need three variables. For example, you might frame your relationship as, “I want to discover the relationship between my grade in class, the number of minutes I study, and the number of classes I attend,” or, “I will find the relationship between how many hours of sleep I get, how many calories I eat in a day, and how many minutes I exercise in that day.”

For the purposes of this assignment, you should be careful that you are not comparing something to a nominal or qualitative piece of data. For example, do not compare “the relationship between how far someone is able to run and their sex” because someone’s sex is not measurable or quantitative. There are methods to do so, but they will complicate this assignment.

2. Collecting Data

You will collect measurements about your relationship. You will need at least 10 observations total. These observations need to be measured yourself – do not collect them from the internet.

Bonus marks are available if you provide evidence that you measured and collected the data yourself.

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3. Prepare an Excel spreadsheet

Next, you will be creating an Excel spreadsheet based on that data. In that Excel spreadsheet, you will need to do the following

a) Create a scatter plot of your datab) Calculate the standard deviations of each of your variables.c) Convert your data into z-scores. Part 3.2 is helpful.d) Create a confidence interval for each of your variables. Part 5.2 (pop. Standard deviation

unknown) will be helpful

4. Create a video which describes your results

Your video should interpret your results and answer a number of questions. Specific things which should be contained in your video are detailed in the next section.

Other

I have compiled substantial materials on how to complete this work in Excel and how to record your computer monitor for a professional presentation. They are found later in this document.

You will be re-using this data in your final exam. In that exam, you will be doing work with linear regression and multiple regression.

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Questions to Answer in Your Video

1. What is the relationship that you (and your partner) are trying to discover?

2. How did you measure your data?

3. Were there any issues with how you measured your data?

For example, let’s say you asked “how many hours of sleep did I get vs. how fast I could run a kilometre.” Measuring the speed of running a kilometre should have no issues, but sleep might. Did you record what time you went to bed, or did you try to estimate when you fell asleep? How about not accounting for quality of sleep if you had to wake up for a child? Etc.

4. What biases, if any, are present in your data? For example, if you ask someone a direct question about how many hours they studied, is there reason to believe people may have reported the wrong data?

5. A scatter plot of your data should be present. Is there a linear relationship here?

6. You were asked to convert all your observations into z-scores. What is the probability you will find an observation that is lower than your lowest observation?

7. Interpret the confidence interval for each of your variables

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Deliverables

You should submit:

1. Your Excel worksheet.

2. A link to your YouTube video.

3. Evidence that you personally collected and measured the data for bonus marks.

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Marking Rubric

Results Interpretation

Students accurately interpreted their results with convincing analysis (15)

Students interpreted their results with analysis (15)

students had some issues interpreting their results, or there was an underlying issue with the data which prevented them from interpretation (10)

Students did not interpret their data or dramatically misinterpreted it (0) /15

Analysis of Data Viability

Students showed excellent ability to recognize issues with data, including measurement and bias (10)

Students provided analysis of issues with data (10)

Students missed one significant aspect of issues with their data, or didn't provide any analysis if there was none (6)

Students did not have sufficient analysis of the viability of their data (0) /10

Professionalism

Video and Spreadsheet was visually pleasing and the presentation was a delight to listen to (5)

Video and Spreadsheet effectively delivered all information necessary (5)

Video and/or spreadsheet lacked aesthetic appeal or was difficult to understand (3)

No professionalism in presentation (0) /5

Instructions Compliance

All instructions were followed (5) N/A

One aspect of the instructions were not satisfied (3)

Most instructions were disregarded. (0) /5

Bonus MarksConvincing evidence of data collection was provided (2) N/A

Unconvincing evidence of data collection was provided (1)

No evidence of data collection was provided (0) /x

Total / 35

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Appendix 1 – Instructions for Completing the Work in ExcelIn this example I am using the latest version of Microsoft Excel in Office 365. Note that versions may differ.

1. Collect the data and input it into Microsoft Excel. Note that the first column you use is your x-axis (horizontal) and the second column you use is your y-axis (vertical).

2. Highlight your data, click “Insert” then “Scatterplot” (shown below on the latest version of Excel). You’ll end up with a chart that looks like this:

3. This chart isn’t pleasant to look at. To fix that, right-click on the y-axis, then click “Format Axis.” It will bring up a menu at the right-hand side where you can change where the chart begins. These options depend on your data – play around with it! Repeat the same with the x-axis.

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4. You can also add a trendline to your chart. Just right-click the chart, click the plus sign, and tick “Trendline” (note: this is a linear trend).

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5. Play around with the settings to make a nice-looking chart. You should also include titles for each axis. You can do this by clicking on the chart, clicking “Design” at the top then “Add Chart Elements.” An example is below:

6. You can now calculate the standard deviation easily. For standard deviation:

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7. Confidence intervals need an “alpha.” This is 1 – confidence, which is 95%, so our alpha is 0.05. As we do not know the population standard deviation, we will be using the “t-distribution.”

This is interpreted using the mean + or – the confidence interval.

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Appendix 2 – Instructions for Recording and Uploading your PresentationA sample presentation I have made can be found at this link: https://youtu.be/Z_d6GvPsRY4

Note: this is based on an old version of the midterm, but the general idea is the same.

A part of your mark is related to professionalism. You should avoid pointing a cell phone camera at your computer screen. Instead, through the use of broadcasting software, you can quickly and easily record yourself.

The recommended setup is two monitors, a dedicated webcam, and a dedicated microphone. However, a laptop with a webcam and microphone built in will be sufficient, although somewhat clunky.

1. Download broadcasting software. The one I recommend it called Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) which can be downloaded for free here: https://obsproject.com/

2. You’ll come to a blank screen. The first thing you should press is “Add a Scene,” with the button circled in red below.

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3. You’ll then need to add “Sources.” You can do this by pressing the button highlighted in blue above. A “source” refers to what you want to show up in your recording. Let’s start with the visuals that we would like. Click add source, then on the menu select “Display Capture,” then click “Create New.” This will add your display to the recording. A screenshot Is shown below. Note: the strange visual effect on screen is normal. This is caused by the program recording itself recording itself, similar to the visual effect two mirrors have when facing each other.

4. You are now able to record what is happening on your display. Next, we can add audio. Click on “add source” again, then click on “audio input” capture. This will let you capture your microphone (note: make sure the power button on your microphone is on!). Select your microphone. You’ll now capture your microphone audio when you record.

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5. Last, you can add a webcam of you (and your partner). Click “Add source” then click “Video Capture Device” and select your webcam. You can then play around with settings, resizing, and positioning. Note: If you do things outside this order and you can’t see yourself, try playing around with the up and down arrows under Sources. The software just needs to layer your webcam “on top of” your screen. Your final product will look something like this. You can hit the “Start Recording” button when you’re ready.

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6. You can find your recording under your “videos folder.” Next, you’ll go to YouTube. Then, click on the “upload video” button in the top-right corner.

7. Follow YouTube’s instructions to choose the file and upload the video.

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8. If you don’t want the public to be able to see the video, under “Visibility” you can select “Unlisted.” Only those with a direct link to the video can watch it.

9. Include the YouTube link when you submit.