FIT3152 Data analytics – 2025: Assignment 1

Instructions

You are expected to include at least one high quality multivariate graphic summarising key results. You may also include other simpler graphs and tables. Report any assumptions you’ve made in your analysis. Include your R code as an appendix. Your R code must be machine readable text as theuniversity requires all student submissions to be processed by plagiarism detection software. Youmust include a declaration on the use of Generative AI at the beginning of your written report(hurdle requirement) and if you used Generative AI, describe how it was used, as an appendix.

There are two options for compiling your written report:

(2) As an R Markdown document that contains the R code with results and discussion interleaved. Render this as a HTML file and save as a pdf.Your video report should be less than 100MB in size. You may need to reduce the resolution of your original recording to achieve this. Use a standard file format such as .mp4, or mov for submission.

Software

Use of Generative AI

In this assessment, you can use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in order to search for R functions and examples to perform tasks that you specify only. Any use of generative AI must be appropriately acknowledged (see Learn HQ).

If you do use Generative AI for your assignment, then you must include the statement "Generative AI was used in this assignment." in the introductory/first paragraph of your report. You must also include the following information as an appendix in your report: (1) the technology you used (e.g.ChatGPT), (2 the information that was generated (e.g. R code fragments), (3) the prompts used (i.e.the questions you asked), and (4) how the output was used in your work.

The aim of this assignment is to understand country-level differences in the predictors of confidence in social organisations reported by participants.

These social organisations cover aspects of society such as: religion, armed forces, the press, television, trade unions, police, the courts, government, political parties, parliament, publicservice, universities, elections, major companies, banks, and environmental organisations. They are indicated in your data by column names having the prefix "C". Predictor variables (attributes) include personal information such as age and gender, values such as trust in others, the importance of various things in life, feelings of security and attitudes towards the state and science.

Each student will be assigned a subset of organisations and predictor variables to study. Your task is to analyse the survey data overall, with a focus on the country you have been assigned. You maymake use of any additional data you require to answer the following questions.

1. Descriptive analysis. (4 Marks)

2. Focus country vs all other countries as a group. (14 Marks)

(a) Identify your focus country from the accompanying list (WVSFocusCountry.pdf). How do participant responses (attributes) for your focus country differ from the other countries inthe survey(treating them as a group)?

(c) Repeat Question 2(b) for the other countries as a group. How do these results compare to those of your focus country?

3. Focus country vs cluster of similar countries. (12 Marks)

(a) Using a collection of social, economic, health, political or other indicators from externalsources, identify at least 5 countries in in your survey data that are similar to your focuscountry using clustering. The references in this document list some data sources that maybe relevant although you are encouraged to search more broadly. State the indicators usedand describe how you calculated/identified similar countries. Copy and paste the table ofvalues you used for your clustering into your report as an Appendix.

(b) Repeat Question 2(b) for your cluster of countries. Comment on the similarity and/ordifference between your results for this question and Question 2(c). That is, does the groupof all other countries

2(c), or the cluster of similar countries 3(b) give a better match to theimportant attributes for predicting confidence in social organisations in your focuscountry? Explain why this might be the case.

4. Video Presentation: (Submission Hurdle and 4 Marks)

Record a short presentation using your smartphone, Zoom, or similar method. Your presentation should be approximately 5 minutes in length and summarise your main findings for Sections 1 – 3, as well as describing how you conducted your research and any assumptions made. Pay particular emphasis to your results in Questions 2(c) and 3(b)

5 Overall considerations (6 Marks)

This includes: the quality and clarity of your reasoning and assumptions; the strength of support for your findings; the quality of your writing in general and communication of results; the quality of your graphics throughout, including at least one high-quality multivariate graphic; the quality of your R coding.4

Data

Create your individual data as follows:

Locate your focus country using the accompanying document FocusCountryByID.pdf. The document WVSCountryCodes.pdf identifies each country by name from its code.

Selected references and web links

The World Bank Data Collections (and Governance Indicators)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)Data

Global Health Security Index: Reports and Data

World Health Organization

Data fields and brief descriptor

You can access more detail on each field in the WVS-7 Master Questionnaire 2017-2020 English.pdf, linked from https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV7.jsp