MATH 4730 - Project instructions

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MATH 4730 - Project instructions

The final project is worth 15% of your final mark. The project will be done in groups of 3. Check the announcements page on eClass for your group membership. Each group member should clearly outline their contributions to both the analysis and the report. This ensures that responsibilities are evenly distributed and that each member actively participates in the work.

Timeline

  • Friday, March 21st 11:30PM: Project report due via crowdmark
  • Tuesday, April 1st and Thursday, April 3rd: Presentations

Grading scheme

Category
 Weight
Description of problem and data characteristics
 20%
Description of methodology
 20%
Appropriateness of methods
 20%
Report quality
 20%
Presentation
 20%

Specifications

For your final project, you have two options to choose from. Below are the details for Option 1: Designing a Memory Experiment.

Option 1: Memory Puzzle Experiment

You will design an experiment to investigate the effect of background music on memory performance using a 16-card memory puzzle, available at the follow-ing link: Memory Puzzle Game. Enroll 18 participants (6 participants per group member) in your experiment.

Experiment Setup

Each participant will complete the memory puzzle three times under different conditions (only 1 minute would be given to them):
1. No music (silent condition)
2. Soft calming music (YouTube link)
  • Standardization: Set your device volume to 50% and YouTube volume to 50%.
3. Loud rock music (YouTube link)
  • Standardization: Set your device volume to 50% and YouTube volume to 75%.

Participant Recruitment & Data Collection

  • Each group member must recruit 6 participants.
  • Each participant will complete the memory puzzle under all three conditions.
  • Measure & Record Accuracy: Note the accuracy (correct matches under 1 minute) for each participant in all three scenarios.
  • Time Commitment: The total time investment per participant is 3 minutes (1 minute per scenario), meaning each group member will spend ap proximately 18 minutes collecting data from 6 participants.

Participant Grouping

Try to enroll a diverse sample of participants. Examples include, but are not limited to:
  • Males/ Females
  • Age Groups (Young/Older Adults)
  • Music Preferences (Music Lovers vs. Non-Music Lovers)

This will allow you to explore potential blocking effects in the analysis.

Data Analysis
Use the experimental design methods you’ve learned so far to analyze the data.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
  • Pair wise Comparisons between two groups
  • ANOVA
  • Paired Design
Final Report
Your report should include:
1. Introduction & Hypothesis
2. Experimental Design & Methods
3. Data Collection Summary
4. Statistical Analysis & Results
5. Discussion & Interpretation of Findings (Mention limitations if any)

This is an engaging practical exercise that applies what you’ve learned, so feel free to get creative and explore the data as thoroughly as you like! Feel free to use the R code snippets provided in the classroom coding tutorials for your analysis if you find them helpful.

The report should ideally be within 6 pages. However, if any sub-analysis requires additional space, feel free to discuss it with me in advance. Additionally, you should append any code to the end of the report (this is not included in the 6 page limit). There should be no code in the main report; however, you may reference code you’ve attached in the appendix if you wish. You can use latex or Microsoft word for the report writing. Please provide me a pdf version of your final report.

Option 2: Critical Analysis of a Retracted or Questionable Scientific Paper: An Evaluation of Experimental Design and Methodological Flaws

For the final project, you may choose to critically analyze a scientific paper that has been retracted due to statistical or experimental design flaws.

Steps for the Project
1. Select a Paper: Select a study from the list of retracted or controversial papers provided below. Alternatively, you may identify a scientific paper with questionable conclusions on your own.


  • Bem, D. J. (2011). Feeling the future: Experimental evidence for anomalous retroactive influences on cognition and affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(3), 407–425.
  • Power posing: Brief nonverbal displays affect neuroendocrinelevels and risk tolerance. Psychological Science, 21(10), 1363–1368.
  • Bargh, J. A., Chen, M., & Burrows, L. (1996). Automaticity of so cial behavior: Direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(2), 230–244.
  • Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Hill, J., Raste, Y., & Plumb, I. (2001). The ”Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test revised ver sion: A study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42(2), 241–251.
  • Gallus, S., Bosetti, C., Negri, E., Talamini, R., Montella, M., Conti, E., Franceschi, S., & La Vecchia, C. (2003). Does pizza protect against cancer? International Journal of Cancer, 107(2), 283–284.
  • Moss-Racusin, C. A., Dovidio, J. F., Brescoll, V. L., Graham, M. J., & Handelsman, J. (2012). Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students. PNAS, 109(41), 16474–16479.


2. Summarize the Study: Provide a brief overview of the study’s objectives, methodology, key findings, and conclusions.
3. Identify Flaws: Critically examine the paper for statistical errors, biases, or flaws in experimental design. Consider issues such as:
• Sample size and representativeness
• Statistical methods and appropriateness of tests
• Data collection and potential biases
• Validity and reproducibility of results
4. Suggest Improvements: Discuss how the study could have been better designed. Recommend alternative statistical approaches, improved sampling techniques, or more robust methodologies.
5. Reanalyze the Data (if possible): If data is available, attempt to reanalyze it using appropriate statistical techniques learned in class.
6. Write a Critical Report: Summarize your findings in a structured report, applying the methods covered in the course. The report should ideally be within 6 pages.
  • Introduction: Provide a brief background on the paper, its objectives, and why it was retracted or proven invalid.
  • Analysis of Experimental Design: Critique the design of the experiment, focusing on any flaws in methodology, sample size, controls, or statistical approach.
  • Statistical Analysis: Evaluate the statistical techniques used, whether they were appropriate, and suggest improvements. Discuss any potential biases in the analysis.
  • Results Interpretation: Critique the interpretation of the results, checking for any overgeneralizations or conclusions unsupported by the data.
  • Recommendations for Improvement: Based on your critique, suggest improvements in the experimental design, statistical analysis, and overall study conduct.
  • Conclusion: Summarize the major points, the validity of the study, and the lessons learned from analyzing this retracted paper.

Presentation

Each individual/group will be required to give a 12 minute presentation of the analysis that you did (9 minute presentation plus 3 minutes for questions/discussion). These presentations will be done during the lectures on April 1 and April 3. I will randomly allocate student presentation times/dates.

The presentation should give a broad overview of data, the methods that you run, and your conclusions. The key for the presentation is clarity. Design your presentation to make sure that everyone understands exactly what you’re doing. You don’t need to worry too much about going too deep into the details (as is the case for any academic presentation). I will release a grading rubric for the presentation at a later date.

Note that your attendance during other students’ presentations will contribute to your presentation portion of the grade.

Other information

• The emphasis on this project is very much report writing and communication. You don’t need to show a lot of mathematical detail; rather, you need to do a good job of describing the problem, methods, and conclusions.
• The project must use experimental design and analysis methodology at a level of sophistication approximately equal to what we’ve covered in the course. Don’t overreach! A reasonably straightforward analysis that is done properly is better than a complicated one that is done poorly!

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