STA110E Lab 1
STA110E Lab 1
Topics
- Web Intro (done if you made it this far :-)
- Mini-Projects
- Pulse Rates (in Lab Project)
- Scientific Articles (outside of Lab Project)
- Survey (in Lab)
Pulse Rate Mini-Project
As a lab group discuss design and carry out measurements to test the
proposition that men have lower resting pulse rates than women. We will
analyse the data in later lab classes. The resting pulse rates can be
entered in to the computer through the survey form (follows later) plus
other information such as sex, height, weight, amount of time spent
exercising.
Questions to consider:
- How do you determine/measure a resting pulse rate?
- How should you collect the resting pulse rate data?
- Do pulse rates vary within an individual?
- Should you use one measurement per individual or take several and
average?
- Who should do the
measurment(s)?
- Should you use self-reported values or should one person
do all measurments?
- Does the sex of the person taking the measurements
matter?
- Should you collect any additional data besides sex and resting
pulse rate? Explain how these variables might impact your conclusions.
- For what population is this sample representative?
Submit the resting pulse rates using the survey form below before the
end of lab.
Write a short description of your lab study
protocol (one paragraph to one page at most, double spaced, with a 11pt
or larger font - be concise!). Make sure that you provide information
regarding the Seven Critical Components discussed in Chapter 2 (Note: I
am sorry to inform you no funding is available for this study :-).
Component 7 will be addressed later when we analyse the data.
Due date for report:
Please complete the write up by the following Lab
session, but do not turn in at this time. You will turn in a complete
report after you analyze the data and have results. The final analysis
report will involve all of the class data, so if your homework group is
not in your lab section do not worry!
Class Survey
Please complete the following survey for your lab section. (For those
of you that discover this before lab, please wait to fill this out
during lab :-)
Your answers are sent anonomously to the TA. Answer ALL questions as
completely and honestly as possible. Aggregates of the answers from the
class will be used for examples in lectures and lab exercises. Please
answer all questions, as missing data can make analyses difficult!
Scientific Articles and The 7 Critical Components
This Mini-Project is to be carried out with your homework groups outside
of lab.
Scientists publish their findings in technical magazines called
journals; hundreds of which are available at Duke in the library and
on-line. Browse the shelves of one of the libraries on campus (or use
the electronic journals on line) until you find an article with a study
that sounds interesting to your group. Some suggestions: the New
England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American
Medical Association often have articles of broad interest. Feel free
to pick any scientific journal that is of interest to you. Read the
article and write a brief report (one page max) that discusses each of the
Seven Critical Components for that study. Argue for or against the
believability of the results on the basis of your discussion. Be sure
that you find an article discussing a single study and not a collection or
"meta-analysis" of numerous studies.
Turn in a copy of the article with your typed report.
Due date:
Lab the following week.