Statistics for Business and Economics

Unhealthy dieting leads to higher weight in teens, study says

2012-01-09T20:01:00.000-08:00

1. The study researched how consisted dieting and unhealthy weight control behaviors (smoking cigarettes, vomiting, usage of laxatives, etc.) during teen years ultimately ended in an increase in BMI across the board as opposed to those who did not diet.

2. The University of Minnesota's Institutional Review Board Human Subjects Committee completely approved of the Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults) study.

3. The sponsor of this project was interested in knowing whether or not those who dieted would “benefit” by not over eating and keeping down weight, or if dieting and other unhealthy behaviors that were practiced in a casual matter, along with binge eating during certain periods, ended up hurting more than helping.

4. The methodology involved included a study conducted in 3 waves of surveys. The first in ’98-99, then ’03-04 and finally ’08-’09. The study was conducted on residents of metro Minneapolis, 1,902 people (who responded at all three times; 819 males and 1,083 females). The surveys asked questions involving what methods of dieting each individual used, how often did they diet from “Never” to “>10 a year,” took measured the participant’s BMI in the first wave and the majority self-reported their BMI during the final wave.

5. The results are shown in a clear manner. Those who dieted more and conducted in unhealthy weight control behaviors ended up gaining a higher BMI over the 10 year time span as opposed to those who didn’t diet or opted out for healthier lifestyle changes.

6. The graphs are broken down in a very clear and concise manner. Everything is explained and there are footnotes that go with all the graphs.

Authors: Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D. Melanie Wall, Ph.D. Mary Story, Ph.D. Amber R. Standish, B.S.

Article title: Dieting and Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviors During Adolescence: Associations With 10-Year Changes in Body Mass Index

Top of Form

Publication: Journal of Adolescent Health

Published: 27 June 2011

LINK: http://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X%2811%2900176-5/abstract

An inverse relationship between cancer (certain forms) and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease, etc)

2012-01-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

1. This study was conducted by a group of medical professionals (physicians, scientists, medical scientists, and epidemiologists) at Washington University School of Medicine.

2. Research was funded by several institutions - major institutions include NIH (National Institutes of Health), the National Heart/Lung/and Blood Institute, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

3. The implications of this finding are immense. At the macroscopic level there are two extremes: certain forms of cancer at one end, and neurodegenerative diseases (ND) at the other. At the microscopic level, this would suggest certain forms of cancer and ND share a common pathway. Too far one way results in cancer, too far the other way results in ND. Such statistical information provides a foundation for scientific research. Scientists can look for a common mechanism in the pathogenesis of cancer and neurodegeneration. This information would also be beneficial to pharmaceutical companies (the opportunity to treat two diseases with one drug target), the American Medical Association, government, and insurance companies, as the incidence of these diseases are expected to increase with the aging U.S. population and improved life expectancy.

4. Methods:

Used population-based sampling to avoid convince sampling from a particular area.

Avoided reporting error by using hospital records

Sample size = 3,020

Demographics – patients were separated by race

Used a different form of dementia (vascular dementia - VaD) that is not neurodegenerative. It was found that VaD does not protect against cancer. This suggests certain forms of cancer are associated with neurodegeneration, not dementia per se. Additionally VaD was used as a control to ensure people with cancer were not reported as free of Alzheimer’s because physicians neglected to look for Alzheimer’s (since people with cancer were reported as having dementia, non neurodegenerative in origin, the inverse association between certain forms of cancer and Alzheimer’s holds).

5. Easy to understand stats for the news paper article. For the scientific study, results are a bit difficult to interpret without a background in statistics or epidemiology.
6. No graphs provided.

News article: http://www.highlighthealth.com/research/alzheimers-disease-may-protect-against-cancer-and-vice-versa/

Scientific study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2809029/

Roe CM, Fitzpatrick AL, Xiong C, Sieh W, Kuller L, Miller JP, Williams MM, Kopan R, Behrens MI, Morris JC. 2010. Cancer linked to Alzheimer disease but not vascular dementia. Neurology. 74 (2):106-112

30.2 percent of 23-year-olds been arrested for an offense other than a minor traffic violation.

2012-01-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

1)Robert Brame, a professor of criminal justice and criminology at the University of North Carolina, Shawn Bushway, a criminologist at the State University at Albany

2) the bureau of labor statistics

3) they would want to make the number lower to make things seem better in the country?

Yes 7,335 participants were nationally representative and ranged in age from 12 to 16 when they were enrolled in the survey in 1996. The first interviews were conducted in 1997. Follow-up interviews have been carried out annually since then.
Yes
no graphs

2011 Survey of Health Care Consumers

2012-01-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

1. The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

2. The sponsor of this survey is undisclosed.

3. I believe that the sponsor could be looking for disapproval with current health care systems. They want to show that the current health care plans need to be changed.

4. I was unable to find any information on the methodology of this survey, which could show weakness in its validity.

5. The information is laid out very clearly. The table of contents allows you to easily navigate and find specific information on the topic. Also, every graph and number is backed up by at least a paragraph describing it.

6. The graphs used in this study are histograms, and they are very clear with all of the information needed to understand what the graphs are trying to say.

Keckley, Paul H., and Sheryl Coughlin. "2011 Survey of Health Care Consumers Global Report." Web. 1 Sept. 2012. .

BBC NEWSC ARTICLE

2012-01-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

6 January 2012 Last updated at 19:55 ET

Restricted embryo growth 'predicts miscarriage risk'

The study looked at the growth of embryos up to the age of 12 weeks old

The growth of an embryo during the early stages of pregnancy is linked to its risk of miscarriage, says a University of Nottingham study.

Scientists found that 78% of single-baby pregnancies which ended in miscarriage were in the smallest 5% of embryos.

Researchers measured the length of more than 500 single and twin embryos during the first trimester.

An expert said the study added to our knowledge of miscarriage risk.

The research was presented at the British Fertility Society annual meeting in Leeds.

The Nottingham researchers tracked the growth of 247 single and 264 twin embryos conceived through IVF, because this allowed them to know the embryos' precise gestational age.

For each embryo, the distance from the top of the embryo's head to the bottom of its buttocks (the crown-rump length), was measured once during the first trimester using an ultrasound scan.

The pregnancy was then monitored until birth.

Poor growth

Using the measurements, the researchers discovered that poor growth in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy was a good predictor of miscarriage.

“Start Quote

We also need to look at blood supply to the embryo and whatever genes are passed on from the father too.”

Dr Raj MathurConsultant gynaecologist

They calculated that 77.8% of single embryo pregnancies that miscarried were growth restricted, while 98.1% of single embryo pregnancies that did not miscarry were not growth restricted.

This was not the case in twin pregnancies, however, where only 28.6% of pregnancies that miscarried were growth restricted.

Ninety-eight per cent of twin pregnancies that did not miscarry were not growth restricted.

Dr Shyamaly Sur, who led the research, said the findings should help to identify pregnancies at risk of miscarriage.

"There are various reasons why some embryos show restricted growth in the early stages of pregnancy. It could be down to an abnormality in the foetus or something in the environment of the womb."

Underlying causes

"More research is now needed to investigate the relationship between growth and the underlying causes of miscarriage in more detail.

"We are focusing on how blood flow to the womb lining and embryo quality influence conception rates and subsequent miscarriage."

“Start Quote

There is something else going on with twin embryos. We need more research in this area”

Dr Shyamaly SurUniversity of Nottingham

Dr Raj Mathur, consultant gynaecologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, said it was a very good study which made biological sense.

But he said there were other factors to consider when looking at miscarriage risk.

"We also need to consider the woman's health history, look at the picture of the whole woman.

"This study adds to our knowledge about risk but we also need to look at blood supply to the embryo and whatever genes are passed on from the father too."

The study also found that twin embryos grew at the same rate as single embryos during the first trimester, which was not expected.

"There is something else going on with twin embryos. We need more research in this area. It could be that twins grow normally and then miscarry."

Dr Sur said the research seemed to suggest that embryo growth patterns were similar in non-IVF pregnancies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16441820

2012-01-09T09:27:00.000-08:00

Economy Making Car Owners Delay Vehicle Maintenance

1. Consumer Reports did this survey.

2. The sponsor of the research is undisclosed.

3. I believe the interest in this surveys results is to let everyone know that they should not wait to fix little car problems. Even though the economy is rough, not fixing a small problem could create an even bigger problem. This article is important for car owners to see so that they know to not make a mistake in waiting till a better time comes along for them and their wallet.

4. This was a telephone survey that took place in November. The survey was from about 1,700 people. The article also stated that the sampling error was plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

5. The results in this article were pretty clear; however there was no graph or chart shown in this article, which could have made the article better.

6. No graphs were used in this article.

Jensen, Cheryl. "Survey Suggests Tough Economy Claiming Another Victim: Regular Car

Maintenance."NYTimes.com. Web. 09 Jan. 2012. .

Potential link between child abuse and mental illnesses?

2012-01-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

Reference: Reuters, Thomson. "Child abuse changes the brain, study finds." MSNBC 12/05/11. .

This study was led by Eamon McCrory of the University College London. This article does not directly say who sponsored this research, but the study was published in the journal Current Biology. A sponsor (such as a scientific journal) would want to prove the link between child abuse and mental impacts (such as the development of depression) because they can provide hard evidence that this social behavior is wrong and has noticeable ill effects. With solid evidence, people will be more likely to advocate support for children who are abused and be willing to find ways to prevent it. This study used a sample size of 43 children. There was a control group of 20 children that was compared to a test group of 23. While the children were exposed to faces with different emotional expressions, their brains were scanned using an fMRI. The results show that the children who were exposed to violence showed increase brain activity in response to angry faces. Comparing this study to previous studies, researchers found the same brain patterns in the children exposed to domestic violence as soldiers who were exposed to violence in war. No graphs are used in this study.

U.S drivers face 12-cent hike at the pump

2012-01-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

I found this article in the U.S. section of the CNN website at this link http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/08/travel/gas-prices/index.html?hpt=us_c1

1. The survey was published by Trilby Lundberg.

2. The sponsor of the survey was undisclosed in the article.

3. If the survey were conducted by consumers then a result of lower prices would be favored but if sponsored by fuel companies they might favor higher prices.

4. Fuel prices were gathered from thousands of gas stations across the United States and averaged.

5. The results are shown clearly with price listings for many major cities across the country.

6. Graphs were not used for this article.

The author of this article is the CNN Wire Staff.

Students lack interest in STEM (Science, Technology or Maths) majors

2012-01-08T23:29:00.000-08:00

The article written by Olga Khazan is based on three different studies sponsored by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, National Center On Education Statistics and Business Higher Education Forum. The sponsors were interested in finding why high school students lack interest in pursuing STEM majors although those majors are mostly likely to give them job in the future. There is no specific information about the methodology except the fact that high school students were chosen for the study. The results are communicated in a clear way and the reason for their lack of interest is mainly because most of the high school kids are not proficient in the maths. A pie-chart is used in the article to show the distribution of students who have maths proficiency and are interested in STEM major but graphs were not included in the article.

Khazan, Olga. "Lack of interest and aptitude keeps students out of STEM majors." Washington Post 06 1 2012

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-small-business/post/lack-of-interest-and-aptitude-keeps-students-out-of-stem-majors/2012/01/06/gIQAoDzRfP_blog.html

Fast Food Chains

2012-01-08T20:52:00.000-08:00

Experts at Consumer Reports Magazine conducted several test regarding the food, value, staff, and speed at fast food chains. The sponsor was ConsumerReports.org. I believe that the sponsors particular interest in this study was to find the opinionated results of food quality, price, and experience. The size of the study group was included in the article, which included 36,733 readers that had rated the fast food chains. The amount of restaurant visits were also taken into account, which were 98,000 visits to 53 chains. The studies were given to the respondents with an opinionated scale ranging from: Good, fair, poor, and very poor.The percentages of the results were calculated and communicated clearly. There weren't any graphs included in this article.

"Four big names lose"
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2011/august/food/fast-food/overview/index.htm

Drastic Rise in Twin Birth Rates

2012-01-08T20:17:00.000-08:00

I found this article titled Births of Twins up Dramatically since 1980 on CNN's health section. The author of the article was Jacque Wilson, CNN.com's Senior Associate Producer and it was posted January 5th, 2012. Here is the link to the article:

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/05/births-of-twins-up-dramatically-since-1980/

1. The survey was conducted by Joyce Martin, Brady Hamilton, and Michelle Osterman.

2. The sponsor for the research was undisclosed.

3. The sponsor could be interested in the reasoning for the birth of twins as opposed to one child. The study showed that older women had an impact on the amount of twins. The study said it was responsible for approximately one third of the increase.

4. Information on methodology is included which indicates that much of the data was attained from the Natality Data File from the National Vital Statistics System.

5. Yes, there are several well labelled sections.

6. Yes, there are several histograms and charts with clear and descriptive titles.

Surgeries found to help Diabetes

2012-01-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

Dr. Carel le Roux and other researchers from Imperial College London conducted the research on this topic. The sponsor was undisclosed. Finding some sort of cure or remedy for diabetes, or perhaps any other health benefits from getting weight loss surgery was most likely the main focus of the sponsor. Some methodologies for this study were given, such as the size of the study group, which was 209 people who chose to undergo weight loss surgery (gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and gastic banding). The results of the assessment were given in percentages of the people who chose to undergo specific surgeries and are clearly stated in the article. No graphs were used in this article.

"Weight Loss Surgery May Help Diabetes", HealthDay, US News, January 6, 2012
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/diabetes/articles/2012/01/06/weight-loss-surgery-may-help-diabetes

American citizens: a better connection with the immigration than the one of European citizens.

2012-01-08T19:06:00.000-08:00

My article can be found thanks to this link: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/americans-still-mostly-welcome-immigrants-survey-finds/?scp=4&sq=survey&st=cse

The survey mentioned in this article can be found there: http://trends.gmfus.org/

1/ The German Marshall Fund of the United States did the survey, which is the purpose of the article. It’s a nonpartisan American public policy and grant making institution. Its goal is to promote the relationships between North America and Europe. This institution tries to encourage the exchanges in the field of politics, economy, environment and social.

2/ The German Marshall Fund of the United States did this report without sponsor. The institution makes two public opinion polls every year concerning the transatlantic relationships and their impact on the public opinion. Even if this institution is nonpartisan, we have to notice that its funding system depends on European and American governments. Indeed, the USA and numerous European States give money to the German Marshall Fund. This institution couldn’t exist without the funding of these governments. We will therefore say that these governments are the sponsors of the survey and more precisely, the American government.

3/ The world context is important: this survey was done after the Arabic spring that affected a lot the immigration in Europe. The goal is to know if there is a difference of state of mind at the hands of immigration in the public opinion between Europe and the USA. The governments that give money to the institution want to know how the Arabic spring affected people. The policymakers need to know what the population thinks to act accordingly.

If we focus on the United States, we can say that this survey is very important for the government. Presidential elections takes place very soon in the USA and Barack Obama has to give his position concerning a lot of topics including the immigration. This study can help him to know what to do. The immigration is a big debate in the USA and republicans and democrats have a very different position. Republicans want to be very strict with this policy instead of the democrats who are often accused to be relaxed. By the way, that’s what the survey shows. Even if American citizens are still ok to welcome immigrants, they don’t seem to trust the politic of the government concerning this domain. This survey can be a warning for Barack Obama to show him that he has to give his opinion and to propose ideas. This survey can also help the republicans for their speeches to win the next presidential election. We can therefore say that the survey is useful for policymakers and political parties.

4/ The information on methodology is included in the end of the survey and seems to be complete. If information is missing, there is a link to see more details concerning the methodology.

5 and 6/ The key findings report that we can find on the website of Transatlantic Trends Report is written in a clear informative manner. It’s always the same method: a grouped bar graph that analyses a variable. The graph allows a comparison of the same variable in different countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and the USA. Sometimes the graph shows the evolution of this variable in every country for four years.

After this clear graph, the authors of the survey analyze the most important results and try to show the general trends. Because they analyze, we can say that the report is not only informative but the redactors take a stand.

However, we can say that the graphs and the analysis of the general trend are given in a clear informative way.

Obama personal popularity at new low

2012-01-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

The survey of this article was conducted by Gallup poll. The sponsor of the research is undisclosed. I think the interest of this result is to see whether President Obama would have chances to run for re-election in 2012 and whether Americans still support President Obama. No methodology is included. The result is pretty clear because in the article, in January, 78 percent people favor President Obama, by March, the favorable number had fallen to 69 percent, now, it has been losing ten points to 56 percent. There were no graphs in the article from the study.

Housing Market in Several U.S. Cities Continues to Descend into 2012

2012-01-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

The Standard & Poor/ Case-Shiller (The Case-Shiller index “measures prices for roughly half of all U.S. homes,” (Associated Press.) committee—headed by Chairman David M. Blitzer—conducted the survey through data revealed by the indexes.
This article did not disclose who sponsored this study.
There could be several benefits from this study, including but not limited to predicting future housing patterns in the U.S. economy; likely home mortgages rates and loans needed; and discovering which cities and regions have been—and may continue to be—hit the hardest in terms of the housing market. This study affects a plethora of people, including homeowners—both current and potential— real estate companies; construction companies; economists; and members of the government, especially those in city councils and those working on solutions to the rather depleted housing market.
Twenty cities throughout the United States were used in this study, obviously a sample of all American cities. The article, however, did not state how the cities were chosen for the study, nor did it reveal all twenty cities involved.
The results of the study were revealed in a somewhat clear manner; however, the article did not actually reveal the findings for all of the cities involved in the study, nor did it list all twenty cities included. The statement that “The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed prices dropped in October from September in 19 of the 20 cities tracked,” (Associated Press) does reveal the overall outcome of the study, which is quite unfortunate for the housing market. “Still, home prices have fallen roughly 32 percent nationwide since the housing bubble burst five years ago and are back to 2003 levels, according to the index,” (Associated Press).
There were no graphs used in this article to provide a clear illustration of the data.

Associated Press. “Survey: Home prices down in most major US cities.” FoxNews.com. Dec. 27, 2011. Retrieved from
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/27/survey-home-prices-down-in-most-major-us-cities/#ixzz1iqEPgHkr

Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal

2012-01-08T18:18:00.000-08:00

This study was conducted by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce. The research was sponsored by Georgetown University. It appears as though Georgetown University would not have an interest in finding a particular result but would have a vested interest in acting on the information produced by the study. Georgetown could decide to offer more programs in those majors that the study finds correlate with lower unemployment rates, such as health and education. This study relied primarily on data from the 2009 and 2010 editions of the Census Bureau American Community Survey. No other information concerning methodology is included in the article. The results are communicated clearly, and the article also compares unemployment levels between those with college majors to those without them. A detailed graph is included in the article that clearly illustrates the disparities between the different majors. The graph also highlights the difference a graduate degree or experience in the workforce can have on unemployment across the different majors.

Source: Whoriskey, Peter. “New study shows architecture, arts degrees yield highest unemployment.” The Washington Post, 4 January 2012.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/new-study-shows-architecture-arts-degrees-yield-highest-unemployment/2012/01/03/gIQAwpaXZP_story.html

The First Signs of Decline in Brain Function

2012-01-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

In the Time Magazine article "Study: Cognitive Decline Sets In as Early as Age 45," a group of researchers from France and England used the data from the Whitehall II Cohort, a study of 10,308 British civil servants medically and socially since 1985, to identify the beginning of loss in cognitive skills. This study was started by Professor Sir Michael Marmot and sponsored by a variety of organizations including the Medical Research Council, the National Institute of Aging, and the MacArthur Foundation in order to research social and occupational influences on health and illness. These sponsors were interested in contributing funds to the study because it was developed as a wide-ranging study that included information on all aspects of the participants' lives along with medical exams. By contributing, the sponsors stood to gain any new knowledge that could lead to breakthroughs in the medical and psychology fields. The study was conducted between five age groups: 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, and 65-70. This was done to monitor the progression or regression of any skills as the participants grew older. As a result of this control group, the results are communicated well and are understandable due to the conclusion. This is further supported by the easily readable graphs, which show the decline of cognitive skills for both men and women as they grow older.

Blue, Laura. "Study: Cognitive Decline Sets In as Early as Age 45", Time Magazine, Time Healthland, January 8, 2012. http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/06/study-cognitive-decline-sets-in-as-early-as-age-45/

British Medical Journal
http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.d7622

Whitehall II Cohort
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/whitehallII/history

Young, Obese and in Surgery (Effects of Bariatric Surgery)

2012-01-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

Hartocollis, A. (2012). Young, Obese and in Surgery. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/health/young-obese-and-getting-weight-loss-surgery.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp
1. A study was done by William Encinosa, senior economist at the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on bariatric surgeries and their effectiveness.

2. The study was funded by the federal agency where William Encinosa works.

3. The agency had interest in the particular result, because it wanted to see the risks involved with bariatric surgeries. Therefore, they can determine whether or not giving the surgery to younger patients is advisable.

4. The methodology of Mr. Encinosa's study, according to an Allergan (makers of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding) spokeswoman, was a small sample size- 161,000 surgical records for 2009.

5. The results that were given were clear and informative with statistics like 1 in 2,000 gastric banding patients or 1 in 900 gastric patients dying during or immediately after surgery.

6. There were no graphs given with the article.

How Healthy Are You?

2012-01-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

The study for the article was the US National library of medicine. The sponsor of the research is undisclosed for the article. Even though the sponsor for the study on obesity in the US was undisclosed, i believe that the sponsor was looking for a particular result, such as how the US has had an increase in obesity in recent years and that it increases every year. As far as methodology goes, a sample size was used because they used the male and female population of the US. The results from the study are communicated in a clear way, it tell what has changed over a period of time. There were no graphs in the article from the study.

Sources: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/heart/articles/2011/02/04/obesity-has-nearly-doubled-worldwide-since-1980-report

The author name was not in the article,

publication date: Feb 4th 2011

title:

Obesity Has Nearly Doubled Worldwide Since 1980: Report

Despite rising weights, some nations keeping blood pressure, cholesterol under control, study finds

Student Loan Debt on the Rise

2012-01-08T13:58:00.000-08:00

This past year has reached a record level of student debt, according to a recent article from CNN. The news outlet acquired its information from the Institute for College Access & Success' Project on Student Debt, which reports that the average debt from student loans has risen to over $25,000 for the first time. This is attributed to the skyrocketing cost of tuition and the terrible economy forcing students to find more financial assistance. To add to the dilemma, 2010 college graduates had an unemployment rate of 9.1% - higher than the national average and the highest number on record.

The Institute for College Access & Success' Project on Student Debt is particularly interested in finding this result, as it shows the difficulty of getting a post-secondary education. Methodology was not included in the article, other than comparing the unemployment of college graduates to the unemployment of those without a college degree (20.4%). The results are well articulated, but a lack of graphs and visual aids makes the message a bit harder to understand. If the article had some type of visual aid, it would be easier for readers to access the information it is trying to portray.

Source:

Ellis, Blake. “Average student loan debt tops $25,000.” CNN Money. November 3 2011. <http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/03/pf/student_loan_debt/index.htm>

Good Teachers Have Lifelong Impacts

2012-01-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

The study was done by Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard and Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia. The sponsor is undisclosed in this article. Since the study portrays the importance of quality teachers, the sponsor could be looking for evidence that school districts should use value-added measures in teacher evaluations. Some information regarding methodology is included; 2.5 million students were tracked over 20 years. The results are clear and show the economic benefits of replacing poor teachers with better ones. There are also three scatter plots included in the article; the graphs are easy to read with clear results. The graphs show that students having quality grade-school teachers is positively correlated with the likelihood to attend college and future salary, while negatively correlated with teenage pregnancies.

Lowrey, Annie. "Big Study Links Good Teachers to Lasting Gain." New York Times, 6 January 2012.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/education/big-study-links-good-teachers-to-lasting-gain.html?scp=3&sq=study&st=cse

U.S. Unemployment Rate Drops to 8.5%

2012-01-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

The study was done by the U.S. Department of Labor. The sponsor of the research was not disclosed to the readers. The interest of this result could be related to politics because people will look at how the unemployment rate has changed while Obama has been President. No methodology information is included in the article. The results are communicated clear because it gives the reported unemployment rate, 8.5%, and compares it to previous rates. The 8.5% rate is the lowest unemployment rate in nearly 3 years. Graphs are also used to help show the significance of the results. A graph showing the unemployment rates after each month of 2011 is a clear representation of the study.

www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-unemployment-rate-20120106,0,4486472.story

Don Lee, "Unemployment rate falls to 8.5%, lowest in nearly 3 years", January 6, 2012

Does Weight Loss Surgery Really Make You Lose Weight?

2012-01-08T11:33:00.000-08:00

This article is about the risks and benefits of weight loss surgery among teenagers. Gastric banding bypass surgery is for people who are genetically unable to lose weight on their own, in which a silicone band is inserted into the stomach to constrict it and make the patient feel full sooner. The controversy is whether performing the surgery on teens, whose bodies are still developing, will cause more harm than good. After the surgery the patient is supposed to eat smaller portions so that the band does not become enlarged, and although there is often significant weight loss in the first few weeks the patient can still feel considerable stress because of the restricted diet. Even after the surgery some patients have said that it is difficult to maintain long-term weight loss.

The article cites an Australian study on adolescent obesity which found that one third of teens who have gastric banding surgery come back within two years for follow-up surgery, because they did not follow the diet and their bands became enlarged. The experiment was carried out by a group of doctors, mainly Paul E. O’Brien, at the Center for Obesity Research and Education in Melbourne, Australia. The objective was to compare the results of gastric banding with a non-surgical approach of a supervised lifestyle program geared toward losing weight. 50 random participants from Melbourne, Australia were selected from the experiment. They were all between the years of 14 and 18 and with a body mass index over 35. The participants were put into two groups: the experimental group, which had all undergone gastric banding surgery, and the control group which did a program of lifestyle intervention such as dieting and exercising.

The results were very clearly presented. There was a graph showing how the individuals’ weight changed over the 2 year period of the study, adjusted for age, and it showed that the patients of adjustable gastric banding surgery lost a great deal more weight than those who merely changed their lifestyle. The mean change in the gastric banding group was a 78.8% decrease in body weight, while the non-surgery group experienced a mean of 13.2% decrease. However, 7 of the 25 patients of gastric banding required follow-up surgery because they could not adjust to eating smaller portions. Therefore, gastric banding can result in more significant weight loss than only undergoing a change in lifestyle intervention, but a certain amount of lifestyle intervention is still necessary after surgery to maintain the weight-loss.

The National Health and Medical Research Council funded the study, as well as Allergan, the primary manufacturer of gastric bands. Both of these sponsors had an interest in finding results that proved the success of gastric banding; Allergan wants hospitals to buy its products, and it will profit if gastric banding becomes the primary procedure for weight-loss surgery. The National Health and Medical Research Council would be interested to know that this standard surgery is successful and can continue to be practiced. The results of this study would probably encourage it to support Allergan and gastric banding surgery. Obesity is a prevalent and a very serious health problem, and this experiment was a valuable contribution for evaluating whether this treatment option offers obese youths a better lifestyle.

Hartocollis, Anemona. “Young, Obese and in Surgery.” New York Times, 7 January 2012.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/health/young-obese-and-getting-weight-loss-surgery.html?hp

The Ignorance of the Country

2012-01-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/03/20/how-dumb-are-we.html

Romano, Andrew. "How Dumb Are We?"

Newsweek, March 20, 2011

Newsweek made a survey and asked random American Citizens to take America's official citizenship test that lead to not very promising results. Out of 1000 Americans, 29% couldn't name Vice President, 73% didn't know the reasons of Cold War, 44% were ignorant of Bill Rights and 6% were not able to name the Independence Day.

For the rest of the article, the author tries to find possible reasons for the ignorance overwhelming the country and ways to solve this problem. These reasons include: complexity of US political system, existence of lot of poor people who have no excess to education, decentralized education system, etc. Whatever the reason might be, it's not impossible, but it definitely needs time to correct the situation.

The survey was made by Newsweek and the sponsor is undisclosed. Results were communicated in a very clear manner but there were no graphs used.

2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal

2012-01-08T08:37:00.000-08:00

Time magazine’s article about the 2045 technologcial singularity popularized by Ray Kurzweil mostly was commentary about Kurzweil’s study and extrapolations. In the article only a single graph was shown. A more detailed presentation of the study that Kurzweil conducted, all of the statistical data, and principles of extrapolation can be found in his book “The Singularity is Near” or on KurzweilAi.net.

1. Futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil conducted the study. He has in the past predicted many things such as the rise of the internet, the year a computer would beat a chess champion, the fall of the soviet union, and much more. Bill Gates has called him the best in the world at predicting the future of AI. He also started his first company when he was in MIT, and has been an inventor since he was 5 years old.

2. The research was done by Ray Kurzweil himself and he founded The Singularity Institute to continue the research and discussion about this issue.

3. Wired Magazine’s creator Kevin Kelly said that there was a lot in this vision of the future that’s hardwired into peoples’ own withes and desires to see this before they die. However, Ray Kurzweil shows that his projections are completely based on empirical evidence and objective reality. Being an inventor Kurzweil accidentally stumbled upon this exponential trend when he was studying technology trends. He expected the trend to be erratic and all over the place, but he saw that the amount of computing you could get per dollar was growing at a constant rate even during the Great Depression and WWII on a logarithmic scale (a constant rate on a logarithmic scale is exponential). Moore’s Law (the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has doubled approximately every year) is one such example of this exponential progression. The reason the rate of technological innovation is exponential is because we use our newest technologies to build the next, so it’s basically like compound interest for IRAs. Also the price of these technologies has been decreasing at an exponential rate. Ray Kurzweil called this exponential progression The Law of Accelerating Returns. At the current pace the following things will happen in the near future:

A. Computers will think like humans do by the end of the 2020s. Computers are already there in terms of logical mathematical thinking but soon they will match us in our moral and emotional intelligence as well.

B. The Singularity will occur in 2045. The Singularity refers to a future period which technological change will be so rapid and it’s impact so profound that every aspect of human life will be irreversibly transformed. The pace of technological change will be so fast that you won’t be able to follow it unless you enhance your own intelligence by merging with the intelligent technology we are creating.

C. After the Singularity, humans will become "functionally immortal"... When the singularity arrives we will be able to reprogram biology in a mature human being away from aging and disease. We will transcend biology by merging with our technology and the portion of ourselves that’s still “human” will get smaller and smaller. Virtual reality will be full immersion, all senses, and more realistic that real reality. All kinds of learning will be as easy as downloading. Ultimately we will transcend humanity and the whole way of thinking, feeling, relating with the world that constitutes humanity. By merging with this technology human will enter a new era of superhuman existence.

D. ... And we will be able to bring the dead back to life

E. Oh, and human intelligence will conquer the universe

4. Kurzweil says his information is based on a rich model of diverse technological processes and his predictions are completely based on data driven systematic extrapolations.

5. The information is communicated in a very clear and concise way.

6. Many graphs are also presented in a very informative manner especially the article online from kurzweilai.net and in his book.

Bibliography

Kurzweil, Ray. The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. New York: Viking, 2005. Print.

"Singularity: Kurzweil on 2045, When Humans, Machines Merge - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Web. 08 Jan. 2012. .

A.d., 1000. "The Law of Accelerating Returns | KurzweilAI." Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence. Web. 08 Jan. 2012. .

Could it be? Manufacturing rose at the end of 2011?

2012-01-07T14:20:00.000-08:00

The article, Manufacturing activity, employment on the rise, written by Chris Isidore reports that according to readings of the manufacturing sector, manufacturing grew during the month of December. Implying that the U.S. ended the year with growth in the manufacturing sector. Going further the article mentions unemployment going down. To support the claims Isidore takes survey results done by the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) and Briefing.com. Disclosing that the ISM surveyed manufacturing purchasing managers, while briefing.com surveyed economists. The surveys were examining the manufacturing sector to figure out it if manufacturing activity has been continuing to rise, as has been reported. In addition it was looking to find the effect it had on employment. The data used from the surveys supports the author’s claims, but it is unknown who sponsored this research. The article also does not disclose the survey questions or surveyors methodology. The specific numbers selected from the survey are given to the reader in a clear concise manner. However, without knowing the context of the survey questions it is unknown how supportive the data is. Isidore does not include any graphs or charts, but instead lets the numbers speak for themselves. At the end Isidore includes the advice of economists, saying "it's important not to read to much into the end of the year strength." Maybe what they're really trying to say is this data can be misleading?

Isidore, Chris. "Manufacturing activity, employment on the rise." CNNMoney, January 3, 2012. http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/03/news/economy/ism_manufacturing/index.htm

To let the Queen rule or not?

2012-01-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

This survey was published in the Jamaica Gleaner on June 28, 2011. This poll was done by a pollster named Bill Johnson who on four separate days between May and June conducted this survey on sample size of 1008 people. No specific sponsor for this survey was disclosed. The purpose of this survey was to determine the percentage of Jamaicans who feel that the country would be better if still under British rule. The survey results were clearly stated, reporting the percentage of Jamaicans who think the country would be better off, worse off and those who just didn’t know. The report also states the margin of error of this poll. In addition to this, the article shows the opinions of Jamaicans as it relates to changing the country from a monarchy to a republic. These results were also clearly stated, showing the percentage of people that say the monarchy system should be retained, removed and those who just didn’t know. No graphs are used in the representation of the results.

(2011, June 28). Give us the Queen! The Gleaner.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110628/lead/lead1.html

A Study on Unemployment among College Majors

2012-01-05T15:36:00.000-08:00

This report was published by the Georgetown Center for Education and the Workforce. The people or group that sponsored the research is not disclosed to the reader. There doesn’t seem to be any benefit that the sponsor could receive from the study. They cite the sample population and the way that the data was collected; through a survey. The results are clearly articulated to the reader but it does not have the best context because it does not report what the unemployment rate is for the average college graduate. It would help to give some point of reference for the study so that the reader can accurately understand the results of the survey. There are no graphs to represent the data that was collected by the survey.

Annalyn Censky, unemployment Soars Among College Majors like Architecture, CCNMoney.com, January 5^th, 2012,

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/unemployment-soars-among-college-majors-163400066.html

Correlation or Causation?

2011-12-11T08:12:00.000-08:00

BusinessWeek provides some fun graphs.
"Need to prove something you already believe? Statistics are easy: All you need are two graphs and a leading question"

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/correlation-or-causation-12012011-gfx.html#

Thanks to Tommy Turner for sharing this

Scorpions and experimental methods

2011-08-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Nature.com reports on a small controlled experiment to test the effectiveness of scorpion antivenom.

"In the end, Boyer found just two hospitals in Tucson prepared to participate. Between May 2004 and October 2005, she and her colleagues treated 15 children as part of the trial, mostly under the age of six. Even with the small sample size, the results were striking: symptoms of the scorpion’s neurotoxin resolved within four hours for all eight children receiving Anascorp, whereas only one of seven subjects receiving placebo recovered so quickly. The rest received heavy doses of sedatives and had to stay for longer in intensive care units before it was deemed safe enough to discharge them from the hospitals."

Advice for future Statistics students

2011-06-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

1. Choose a topic that you are really interested in so that you are always eager to come up with ideas and excited to find out the results. Having a list of topics to discuss your friends (not only your partner) and your professor will help you a lot.
At the same time, make sure your survey questions are relevant to the participants so as to increase response rate.

2. If you use an online survey, send it out (roughly 3 weeks)early to a large sample and be prepared for low response rate (15%-30% is not a surprise). Show people the benefits of completing your survey; you might want to include some incentives (candies, pizzas etc). Do not hesitate to send our reminders.

3. Set up a lot of numeric variables and equations so it will be much easier to find correlations in the end. Keep finding comparable data from other resources to do hypothesis testings in your final report. Give yourself a few days to work on computation and writing the report. Be clear and organized by using graphs and data supported by your own analysis.

4. Have trouble understanding materials in class, talk to your professor as soon as you can. Chulk Stull would love to help you.

Goodluck! It's a fun class if you love what you do so make a good choice ;)

Advice for future students

2011-06-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

1. Pick a very interesting topic to you. Be creative and don't just grab the first thing that comes to mind or sounds the easiest to do.

2. MAKE SURE you get a large sample, because small samples can give you data that isn't necessarily representative of the population.

3. When choosing a method of obtaining data, whether survey, direct observation, etc. be overcritical of your method and try to eliminate any bias.

4. Get as much data as possible that is related to your subject, you may find new correlations or interesting trends that will make the report much more informative.

Jake Olds

Advices for the later students,

2011-06-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

1. Find something new and interesting. It always nice to do something interesting and do something that no one else does it. Sometimes, you can find some new result with the old topic, but it always to discover the new topic. And choose someone you like to work with.

2. Never stop in the middle of the analysis. Do a little bit every week. If you stop, it’s kind of hard to pick up the ideas why you start this and it’s kind of hard to re-remember the reason you like the topic you choose.

3. If you do the survey with the e-mail, please send much number than you expected. The percentage of the people who will answer the survey though email is much smaller than you expected.

4. If you find something goes wrong during the research, talk to Dr.Stull as soon as possible. The suggestions will be really useful and it will save a lot of time doing nothing.

5. Besides, Good Luck!

For the Future students:

2011-06-03T13:45:00.001-07:00

The research project is a fun experience. However, you will have moments when you love doing it so much and other times when you would like to throw it out your window. It is important to carefully choose your partner and come up with a topic that both of you like. When designing the survey make questions that are numerical and that will give you enough data to compute, do hypothesis testing and draw significant conclusions. Also, when doing an online survey, be careful with the websites as you may think they are for free, but after collecting some few responses they will ask you for money in order to access the answers. Finally, but not last, take a lot of time in order to do this. Believe me, it takes longer than you expect and you do not want to be writing the final report few hours before the deadline.

Tips

2011-06-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

If you're reading this advice page then you are already well on your way to being successful in this class. Believe it or not this term will fly right by you so here is some advice I have for keeping up with the pace.

1. Keep it simple!...the simpler your project idea, the easier it will be to interpret results and understand your findings.

2. Research something you are really interested in, the more interested you are in your project the more thought you'll put into collecting your data and analyzing your results.

3.This project is extremely time consuming so the best thing to do when collecting data is to keep track of information as you go along, especially if you're working by yourself.

This project taught me a lot about patience and the importance of direct language. They way you word a question has a tremendous impact on the types of responses you get and the work you have to put into analyzing those responses later on. Also, try to think of creative ways to get your surveys out to people. Try to weigh the pros and cons of each method of collecting data. For example, my partner and sent our surveys through random emailing and collected our data online,this saved us some time, but we were not able to get 100 responses so our final grade suffered.If I could have I would have asked more questions about how to interpret the numbers because correct calculations aren't enough if you don't know what they mean. Looking back I would have followed all of the advice I am giving you now and I would have received a better grade as a result.

For future students in Business Stats

2011-06-03T09:14:00.001-07:00

If I were to retake this course, I would give my project more time to develop. We thought that the survey would be very easy to complete yet we kept receiving red marks on every draft we turned in. The truth is, your survey will never be complete. You can always add more. This is why you must keep your field of interest small so you can analyze a lot of data retaining to only that field. Also be prepared to meet with your partner a lot and accept that the two of you think differently. Be sure to always be ready for errors and things not working out as planned. I know for me, barely anyone answered on of my questions. But in the end, it turned out for the better because them not answering the question actually made a bolder statement and allowed us to draw bigger conclusions. With these in mind, your project can be easily accomplished.

Advice

2011-06-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

My first advice for future students is the obvious, most difficult aspect of the project, that is, keeping on top of scheduling and collect data as soon as possible. This really allows the project to move forward without too much hassle. Secondly, I think that if you chose a topic out of convenience as opposed to something you actually find interesting, the project will seem far more painful than it needs to. Finally, really consider the questions you ask. While you do not want to lead respondents towards an answer, really consider the aims of your project and how the questions relate to one another. More focused questions allow for better, more focused and significant conclusions for the final paper.

For the future stats students out there

2011-06-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

Coming into this class, I thought stats was going to be very easy. Although the class was taught at a very understandable level, I recommend as soon as possible, finding and working through extra problems so that when it comes to doing it for your project, youll be more than ready. Also, choosing a partner that has the same time schedule as you will really help the group harmony. It also helps if you try to research something that your group is interested in. The key point here is that if you and your partner are interested, the project will seem less like a chore, and more like honest research that could be fun. Don't procrastinate from the beginning because the cycle only gets worse as it gets towards the end, and there are real deadlines.

Wisdom

2011-06-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

As you embark on this educational journey through the world of data collection, I offer you a few easy to follow pointers to success. First, do not let the idea of time provide you with a sense of comfort. Meaning, collect your data as soon as possible. Once your survey is ready to be distributed, distribute it. Second, shoot for the stars. Only completing the required amount of work will not give you an A+. I advise spending quality time on writing assignments to let Chuck know you really do care about this course. Third, collect a lot of data. It cannot be any simpler than that. The more data you collect the higher your grade will be. These are the tricks to trade. If you master pointers, Chuck will love you and you will love your grade.

Student spending vs. Income

2011-06-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

2011-06-03T07:05:00.001-07:00

Advice for Future Students

2011-06-03T05:56:00.000-07:00

For future students -

I think the most important thing for this project is for students to create their survey and hand it out as soon as possible. This leaves more time for the student(s) doing the project to toy around with the data and try to decipher as much useful information as they can out of their data. In particular, regression is an important device that students need practice at in order to refine their skills regarding analyzing regressions. The more time students leave between the time they finish the survey and the actual due date for the project, the less stressful (and more enjoyable) the project will be.

For Future Students

2011-06-03T05:52:00.000-07:00

For future students, the most important thing to do if you want success on this project is to start early. Try not to wait till the last moment to finish assignments or collect data. Also make sure to have a smart and responsible partner who will do their part in the project. The project will be much easier if you pick a topic that really interests you.

Findings in my Stat Project

2011-06-03T05:43:00.000-07:00

I conducted a survey trying to gauge why students originally decided to choose Kalamazoo College and how satisfied they currently are with that decision. Certain factors we looked at were the effects that financial aid, sports, and academics had on their decision. Factors we examined regarding overall satisfaction level with the school were the student's preference to attend college closer to home, amount of financial aid received, and number of extracurricular activities.

Our data yielded interesting results that are very revealing about Kalamazoo College. Using regression, I was able to determine whether there were positive correlations between satisfaction level and other factors, and the importance of certain factors that we tested regarding a student's preference in choosing Kalamazoo College.

Our findings clearly indicated to us that students who chose Kalamazoo College for academics or for sports reasons were, on average, highly satisfied with Kalamazoo College whereas those students who chose Kalamazoo College for financial aid reasons were, on average, much less satisfied. Other interesting finds that we discovered was that a student's GPA had no correlation with the student's overall satisfaction level with the school, indicating that GPA was not a determining factor in overall satisfaction with the school. Also, we were able to determine that student's who preferred to attend a school closer to home tended to be far less satisfied with Kalamazoo College than those who had no preference in whether or not they attended a school closer to home, showing us that distance to home is an important factor to some students, but has no effect on others.

Advice to Students

2011-06-02T22:08:00.000-07:00

The most important advice I can give is to make your survey as finely tuned as possible. It may take several drafts and test runs but it’s worth the effort in order to have a survey that asks the right questions and is clear to those taking it. This will make analyzing the data much easier for you later on and will avoid unusable responses. When you write your survey know exactly what you are looking for so you don’t forget to collect a vital piece of information. It’s also a good idea to start early and send out your survey with plenty of time for people to respond and even more time for you to organize and analyze it.

Some Wise Advice

2011-06-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hey future business stats students, the research project is an interesting process and can go smoothly if you manage your time properly. Start collecting data, either electronically or by handing out surveys, as soon as you can. This will help you collect a lot of data randomly and give you plenty of time to complete you analysis. When making your survey, be sure to ask questions that give you good variables to compare when doing hypothesis testing and regression equations. Also make sure you have enough interesting variables to work with in your survey. Also like any school related task, do not procrastinate!

Advice!!!!

2011-06-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

Future business stats students I just want to give you three important pieces advice. Firstly, carefully choose a partner that you know and make sure both of you will commit to put time and effort in the project. Establish expectations and goals during your first meeting. This is extremely important because if you don’t have close communication with your partner it will be hard to work together and complete the project. Also make sure that you and your partner have a clear understanding of each section of the project so that each of you could help each other in case one doesn’t understand the concepts. If both of you have trouble with (confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, regression and other problems) make sure you ask your friends or go to Chuck’s office, he will be always there to help you.
Secondly, please make sure your survey is very clear, concise, and well designed. This is really important because if you don’t have a well-designed survey your sample is not going to take your survey seriously and they will put unreasonable answers. Also, make sure you put thought and time into your survey questions and make sure they are related to your topic so you can find useful findings. If you do this, it will save you time and it will make your statistical analysis easier. In addition to the survey, please make sure you distribute them as soon as possible and start collecting data right away, since putting data in excel takes a lot of time.
Thirdly, please make sure you do every single assignment Chuck gives you. Each single assignment is part of the big project so put time, thought and commitment. Also please make sure you find several articles related to your project so you can have interesting comparisons to your findings. Finally, do not procrastinate and think positive all the time even if the project is not coming as you want. And remember this project is designed to apply what have you learn in class. Enjoy.

Future Students

2011-06-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

The advice I would give to future students would be to start as early as possible with your surveys. By doing this, you can assess if you will need to hand out more surveys to get a more random result, and many other things. Also, choose your questions carefully so when it comes time to do your hypothesis tests you have relatable topics that you can compare.

ADVICE!

2011-06-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

I advise everyone while you are writing your survey to look at it primarily from the standpoint of statistical data and in a way that makes it easy to draw conclusions. Make your questions close ended and without any reason to respond with opinions or long answers. Ask What questions make it easier to draw large conclusions or see strong correlations?

Also, i would advise students to not procrastinate. The collecting data process is a lot longer than one would think, even if you do it online. I advise to start way in advance so you are sure to secure the response rate you hope for.

K students, how often do you leave the bubble?

2011-06-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

A study conducted by students in the Business Statistics class has revealed interesting findings about the travelling habits of K College students. On average, K students gather in a group of four to get off campus 8 times every two weeks. During that period of time, each student spends roughly $13.3 on transportation (about 13% of their pocket money).

Why?Among the top reasons why students get off campus, eating out (5 times a month) is by far the most popular, followed by parties (weekly), shopping (3 times a month) and volunteer work (twice a month). Nearly 92% of the survey respondents said they have gone out to eat at least once during the last two weeks. While students appear to party more often than doing shopping, the percentage of people who go shopping is actually higher with 78% versus 71%. Bars and clubs do not seem to be a good idea for parties since only one third of the respondents have visited such place in the last two week. This happens to be equal with the student participation rate in volunteer activities.

Where? For many K students, Crow’s Nest and Burdicks have been familiar names beside Panera, Qdoba or Saffron, etc when it comes to dining out. About 27% of the respondents claim Crow’s Nest to be their favorite restaurant and 13.6% chose Burdicks. There is less variation for shopping locations with Meijer (41%), Crossroad Mall and Target being the most visited addresses. Finally, if you want to chill out at a bar or club, visit Metro, Beer Exchange and Waldo’s since you are more likely to come across a few friends.

When? Friday and Saturday after 4PM are not surprisingly the time students get off campus most often. Generally speaking, more than half of the students leave campus on Friday (50.61%) and Saturday (55.43%) around midnight. It is noticeable that students get off campus on Monday from 4 to 7PM as much as they do at the same time on Saturday (34.94%).

Shuttle service & Bike renting

The study looks at how K students support a shuttle service to the airport, the train station and common places off campus in relation to their travelling habits. While nearly 43% of the students drive their own cars to get off campus and 62% ask friends for a ride or borrow a friend’s car, more than 77% of the population want a school bus service to common places off campus. Only 11% use bus, which suggests that the bus system at K might not be highly accessible to the students. They also expressed their willingness to pay $1.58 per round-trip if such a shuttle were provided. It is interesting that though 35% of the students took a plane to travel outside Kalamazoo over Winter quarter and Spring break, only 32% would like to use a school airport shuttle. Bus service to train station receives much more support at 55%.

About 66% of you might have known about the “Borrow a bike” program at DeWater yet only 12% have ever used the service. Among 34% of those who do not know about the program, a big proportion of 76% indicated that they would consider renting a bike. This once again suggests that students need more accessible means of transportation to get around and become better involved in the K community.

Given such information about the students’ travelling habits, the school government could consider implementing an efficient program that would meet the student need and encourage them to enjoy off-campus life.

Research Project Advice

2011-06-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

Carefully design your survey and make sure your questions are both clear and concise so that more people will actually answer them. Keep in mind that people want to put in as little effort as possible when taking your survey, so questions requiring textual answers may be skipped by many respondents. Also, try to think of specific variables you would like to compare and design your survey to ensure that you will obtain the variables you need from the questions that you ask in your survey. Sorting through data and arranging it to be suitable to perform statistical tests can take longer than expected, so make sure you have ample time to do so.

Chuck also gives different assignments pertaining to the research project throughout the quarter. Putting thought and effort into those assignments will help you complete your final paper (when you complete those assignments you basically finish a section of the paper).

This is a large project and I think it is very important to find a good partner. Make sure both you and your partner clearly understand concepts learned in class (confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, regression, etc.). If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask Chuck. It is important that you and your partner both clearly understand how to do the assignment so that you can divide the work with your partner efficiently.

Should K Change Its Language Departments?

2011-06-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

Foreign language study is a prominent part of the Kalamazoo College curriculum. All students are required to take 3 units in a second language (through the Intermediate Level 103 or 201, depending on the language). In addition, 89% of students surveyed indicated that they have studied abroad or plan to study abroad and most study abroad programs require proficiency in a foreign language. Due to the importance of foreign language education at Kalamazoo College, a recent survey of 79 students at Kalamazoo College was conducted to determine student satisfaction with the college’s foreign language departments and possibly identify any improvements that can be made within the departments.

Overall, students rated that they are satisfied with the current language requirement (average desired unit requirement=2.98) and the language departments as a whole (rated 3.58 on a scale from 1=Very Dissatisfied to 5=Highly Satisfied).

Although students appear generally satisfied, the study also found support for expanding the language departments. On average, most students indicated that they had a high desire to learn languages not currently offered at Kalamazoo College (rated 3.81 on a scale from 1=No Desire to 5= Very High Desire). The study also supported that students have around the same level of desire for learning languages not currently offered at Kalamazoo College as they do for improving in languages at Kalamazoo College. Students listed 19 different languages that they would like to learn that are currently not offered, and the top 3 most frequently listed were Italian, Arabic and Russian. On average, students who were willing to pay for private language lessons or lessons in languages currently not offered by the college said they would pay approximately $115 per quarter. Therefore, it could be beneficial to conduct further studies on adding more components to the language departments.

Alternatively, rather than expanding the language departments to include more languages, more emphasis could be placed on certain aspects within the language courses already offered. Students rated that they have achieved between some proficiency and high proficiency in the languages they have learned at Kalamazoo College. However, the study found that out of 4 different areas (speaking, reading, writing, and understanding speech) students felt the least proficient in writing in foreign languages learned both before Kalamazoo College and at Kalamazoo College. These results could indicate a need for greater focus on developing writing skills within foreign language courses or the development of separate writing-intensive foreign language courses.

Hometown Advantage

2011-06-01T19:17:00.000-07:00

This spring a study was conducted to find if there exists a relationship between where one lives and their favorite sport to watch. The goal was to determine if the type of town one lives in has an effect on the type of sport they watch. Even if one does not play sports, they can still be a fan of sports and watch sports related television. If one is not a fan of playing or watching sports then they are still included in this study.

This study is not an accurate representation of the American population, but rather a relatively small sample from Kalamazoo College in Michigan. This is due to the limited resources obtained by the two Kalamazoo College students who conducted this research. 300 students from Kalamazoo College were randomly selected and sent via email an online survey of questions pertaining to lifestyle and level of sports interest. Such questions included information on hometown type, hours of sports television watched during the week and weekend, distance to nearest professional team arena, and number of events attended in a season.

Statistical results showed the researchers that there was no connection between hometown type and favorite sport watched. However, there were some significant findings. The varying distances one lived from an arena did not affect their event attendance. Results showed that those that lived 5 minutes away from the closest arena attended just as many events as those who lived 45 minutes away from the closest arena.

Advice for future students

2011-06-01T18:27:00.001-07:00

The business statistic project is not an easy paper; mine ended up being 25 pages. The advice I would give is do not procrastinate! Throughout the quarter you will be turning in papers related to your project but while they contribute to your final project they are not the majority of it. But once you get the handout telling you to actually write that final paper, start it right away. It is nice to have time to think about what data you are testing and how to analyze it. It also helps if you start it early so that you have time to reflect on it. This paper is not something you can write in one night. Also, take good notes in class from the beginning because everything you will learn in class you will see again when you sit down to write the final paper. Choose something you are interested in and get started write away and the class should go well for you.

Advice for future students

2011-06-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

What is next language to study?

2011-06-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

Due to the recent research done through the 79 Kalamazoo College students, Italian, Arabic and Russian have the largest support to study at the Kalamazoo College. Is your new language choice on the list? And what is your answer with questions below?

The survey has several questions like:
* Are Kalamazoo College students generally satisfied with the languages departments at the college?
* How useful do students find the language requirement for their education/future goals?
* Would an increase/change in language courses offered increase satisfaction with the language department/Kalamazoo College in general?
*… and so on

The study shows that the language requirement has the middle impact to make the students to choose Kalamazoo College. Which is little bit lower than students’ satisfaction with the language department. Congratulations to the language department professors and TAs, you guys have done a great job.

In this survey, the students choices about language almost equal to what are offered at the language department. Most students want to learn 1 to 2 languages with the 3 units’ classes to graduate at “K.” Besides most students want to have lectures between 3 and 4 times per week with labs between 1 and 2 times per week. All these choices are almost as equal as what the school is offered at this moment, which are what students have taken so far.

Others interesting results are found as Kalamazoo College students want to learn between 3 and 4 languages in their entire lives. Do you reach your scale with 3 languages so far? Or do you have any other language to learn? As mentioned, Italian, Arabic and Russian are the languages that students more likely to learn besides the choices within the language department, still there are other 16 languages that students are eager to learn through the survey.

However, even though most students have the high desire to learn the language that is not offered so far, only 21% of students (among 79 students) are willing to pay for private language lessons just as what the music department does. For the students who are willing to pay for the private language lessons, the money to pay is quite near to the group applied music lessons. Are you one of those people who are willing to pay for the private lessons? Or there is no extra spending for the language study.

Study Abroad Spending

2011-06-01T13:46:00.001-07:00

Keeping track of spending while at school is hard enough so it should come as no surprise that students preparing for study abroad have a particular need of viable information about spending abroad. The CIP tells students preparing for abroad to expect to spend between $1,500 and $3,000 depending on program length. Despite this, many students report spending far more than this. We sent out a survey to 261 juniors who participated in the 2010-2011 study abroad programs asking numerous questions about their spending habits while abroad. From our 91 respondents, we were able to draw interesting and important information from the responses. Student spending abroad does appear to higher than Kalamazoo College’s proposed range of spending with a significant relation between whether a student was studying in a first world or third world country and how much he/she spent on their most expensive vacation. Overall, this survey allowed us to draw information that gives students more accurate expectations as to how much study abroad costs, where the majority of money spent goes towards, and how to be prepared financially depending on their host country.

Summary for a general audience - Jake Olds

2011-06-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

Fast Food in America has many connotations with the lifestyles of those who frequently eat it. People assume that those who eat fast food are overweight, of a lower class, or do not care much about the health and nutrition of their food. In a study conducted of the small community of Kalamazoo College, researchers Brandon Merritt and Jake Olds came across some interesting findings.

After surveying 34 randomly selected students of the approximate population of 1500, a few interesting correlations were found. As the participants’ incomes increased, so did the frequency of fast food meals eaten. Surprisingly, as the income increased, the amount spent per fast food meal decreased. The more that a person reported to care about the health and nutrition content of their food, the person had less of a chance of being overweight. Many frequent fast food eaters were actually in relatively good shape, particularly if they reported that the health content of their food was important to them. One interesting finding was that 25% of all respondents listed McDonald’s as their favorite fast food restaurant, with Wendy’s being the second most popular at 15.6%.

Jake Olds

Reflection

2011-06-01T08:51:00.001-07:00

When high school students are searching for colleges to attend in the future, they need to do more than just take a campus tour with a current student that only tells you what subjects are taught in each building. Students need research or information to look at that may sway them one way or another when it comes time to choose the college for them. In particular, this information needs to come directly from the students that actually study there, not the biased opinions from administrators and professors. The study that I administered aimed to get an idea of the overall satisfaction of life here at Kalamazoo College.

Kalamazoo College is a school that anyone can call home; whatever a person’s needs and likes are, K can adhere to those things. My study’s results prove this very statement. In regards to academics, my results showed that students are extremely satisfied with their education. They love their professors, classrooms are very modern, and the student to faculty ratio makes it easy to learn because of the interaction with teachers. Extracurricular activities are also a major plus at Kalamazoo College. There are a large amount of student organizations across campus that anyone can join as well as events that the college puts on for the students. These events and organizations bring students from all walks of life together for a good time and to also provide ways for students to meet one another. Athletics are another major aspect of Kalamazoo College. My results showed that their is much promise for the future of sports here at K. In the fall of 2012, there will be brand new athletic fields available for the football, baseball, soccer, and softball teams, which many students are very excited about. These fields make the future of K athletics very bright!

All in all, the overall satisfaction of Kalamazoo College showed to be very good. The students that attend K are happy to be here and excited to learn in an environment that is comfortable for all people. This survey showed that K is a very unique place that many people are taking advantage of, and hopefully many more to come will do the same!

How boring is "K" College?

2011-06-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

Do Kalamazoo College students really have a handle on events happening on campus? Student researchers Ian Powell and Mayra Montero say no. Recent findings of their survey for their business class report that out of the hundred people they interviewed, people said that the average amount of events that occurred on campus per day was nine. However, the student researchers looked at the calendar of events on the campus website as well as the "Hornet Hive" that students and found that the average event per day of May was four and five events respectfully. Of course, there are different events that are advertised on these two parts of the "K" online network. "I was surprised" said researcher Ian Powell, "people my classes never seem to know what is going on campus but it makes sense that they have a distorted belief about how many campus events take place per day". There was also data to show that there was a big difference between the averages that first-years and seniors gave. Seniors thought that there were 13 events average per day while first-years thought that there were seven events. per day. This may be due to seniors that live off-campus that don't see campus advertisements everyday. Something to consider is that for events listed on the Hornet Hive, student leaders have to add their events to the calendar. These leaders may think that the Hornet Hive is ineffective, and do not list their events. On the calendar of events page on the campus website, there is no way to add an event for an individual club, so the number of actual events is probably much higher than the average recorded here. With this knowledge, maybe the Student Commission will try to change the way they advertise, so that more people have a better idea of how many events take place per day.

Kalamazoo College Advertisement Efficiency

2011-06-01T06:31:00.001-07:00

Every quarter, Kalamazoo College Student Activities Committee (SAC) and organizations work hard to attract students to events and activities using different methods of advertisements. However, the methods used by SAC and organizations seem not to be very effective because many students do not know what is happening on campus. To answer questions about low attendance rates and which method of advertising is more effective we conducted a research project in which we studied Kalamazoo College’s student population’s preferences and opinions about advertising for campus events.

The research project was conducted using 100 students of Kalamazoo College and we found a few interesting findings to improve awareness about and attendance for campus events in the student population. We discovered that 54% of the students at K find information about campus events through Facebook, 38% through friends and 6 % through email and 3% through Hornet Hive. Also, we tested the effectiveness of these four places for advertisements using a scale of 1 (Very Ineffective) – 5 (Very Effective). We found that the mean effectiveness for Facebook was between 3.24 and 3.68, and for friends was a little lower, 3.17 to 3.57. On the other hand, the mean for campus email was 2.68 to 3.09 and Hornet Hive was between 1.89 and 2.21 making these two options ineffective for campus advertising.

Another interesting finding was related to students’ availability to attend campus events. First we asked our sample to indicate how many events they thought happen each a week during the month of May. Our sample said that the average was 9 but we found that 23 was the closest average estimate. Then we asked our sample to indicate if they felt too busy to attend campus events and if they have too much work. 44% agreed that they were too busy to attend the events and 30% said they have too much work.

Kalamazoo Student's Textbook Spending

2011-06-01T00:47:00.000-07:00

With textbook prices increasing at twice the rate of inflation according to a government study by the Accountability Office the cost for students is becoming a rising issue. For Kalamazoo College students the average spending on textbooks per quarter is 210 or 630 dollars every year. This is drastically less than the 2010-2011 national average of $1,137 estimated by the CollegeBoard. The reason for these lower costs may be due to a number of spending habits. Less than half of Kalamazoo students surveyed only bought their books from the campus bookstore while 56% opted to purchase at least some of their textbooks, if not all, from an online source. Of those who only used the campus store their average spending was $245 but students buying some of their books online spent an average of $208, a slight saving which suggests that students who shop around or use an online source tend to get a better deal. The most common online source for Kalamazoo students was Amazon with 91% of online shoppers using this website to buy their books. Another option to cut back on spending is not buying a new book. Twice as many textbooks reportedly bought for spring quarter were purchased in used condition and 37% of students chose to rent some of their textbooks this year, an increasing trend nationwide. 88% of students sometimes choose to sell back their textbooks when they are done with them. Of these the majority chose to sellback to the campus bookstore although no students surveyed were completely satisfied with the sellback prices offered at the campus bookstore. The average sellback price for last quarter’s textbooks per student was $43 (about 20% of their original cost). These findings show the on average students at Kalamazoo may spend less than those at other schools because they exercise other resources leading to smart spending habits.

Kalamazoo College students' support for a shuttle service

2011-05-31T22:17:00.001-07:00

A research team from the Business Statistic Class (spring 2011) conducted a study called “K Transportation Survey”. This study was focus on the transportation preferences of Kalamazoo College students and if they would be willing to support a bus shuttle service to and from common places off-campus, the airport, and the train station. The results demonstrated that there is not strong support for the airport (32%) and the train station (55%) shuttle. However, 77% of students at K showed interest on having a transportation service to and from the common places off-campus paying in average 1.58 dollars per trip.

It also calls our attention that as class standing (year) increases the support for the shuttle service decreases. The research team found that 100% of all the freshman students, 83.33% of all the sophomores, 71.42% of all the juniors and 50% of the seniors who answered the survey support the shuttle service to common places off-campus such as Meijer. The strong support of the freshman population could be due to factors such as the necessity of having a convenient mean of transportation to go shopping as first years are not allow to have cars on campus, or that as the majority of them are new in the area they would like to explore deeply the city of Kalamazoo. The low support from the other groups could be due to the increase of more responsibilities, the study abroad programs, off-campus living and a greater knowledge of the city.

This information is significant and definitely could be used by the Student Development Office at K College. It could help to determinate whether giving the students another transportation option would be beneficial and worth the effort of its implementation.

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