Guidelines As stated in the course syllabus, the object of this project is to gi

Guidelines
As stated in the course syllabus, the object of this project is to give you some experience in identifying a research problem and applying what you have learned to explore the problem in more detail. Specific requirements are as follows:
Identify a specific problem to be investigated. The problem should relate to your area of interest. Research problems are often posed as questions. Some examples would be:
“Did the recent decline of US stock markets have an impact on the price of precious metals such as gold and silver?”
“Does the recent increase in housing foreclosures have an impact on the number of homeless persons in the US?”
“Do students who work all of the assigned homework problems in math and statistics classes do better on exams than students that don’t work the problems?”
“Are traditional drug therapies more effective than non-traditional methods for treating depression?”
“Are students who are involved in campus activities outside the classroom more likely to have a high GPA than students who are not involved?”
Once a research problem is selected conduct a brief survey of literature relative to that problem. Your literature review should consist of at least 2 or 3 reliable sources of information. These sources should be primary sources such as academic journals or books.
Construct a working hypothesis relative to the problem you are investigating. Construct a null hypothesis relative to the problem you are investigating.
Collect enough data to conduct an appropriate statistical analysis of your hypothesis. Use either Minitab, Excel, SPSS or JMP software to perform the statistical analysis. List of suggested government websites hosting data sets, accompanied by detailed instructions on accessing those data sets, are posted under Module 8.
List of suggested academic and government websites hosting complimentary data sets are posted below:
* Springboard: free public datasets for social science data project
* Columnfivemedia: 100+ of free data sources for data projects
* U of Berkley Advance Media Institute: databases of statistical information
Evaluate your null and alternative hypotheses relative to your findings.
Write a report detailing your findings. The report should include a statement of the research problem, a brief summary of the literature survey you conducted, a statement of the null and alternative hypotheses investigated, a brief discussion of the data collected, a discussion of the statistical technique (s) used to analyze the date, and a summary of your conclusions based on the statistical analysis. Include in your report all output from your statistical analysis that was produced by Excel, Minitab, SPSS or JMP.
In addition, your paper must be done on a word processor, spell checked and grammatically correct. The paper must contain a bibliography and be properly cited using either APA, MLA, or Chicago conventions. Please refer to the sourcing references document posted under Module 8 or consult GV’s Library reference desk for assistance.