Adam+B

Here are my Mathex 2009 Reflections; It is best to begin every survey or statistical investigation with a question which you'd like to investigate. This should be accompanied with a prediction, and a reason for your initial throughts- otherwise, you have no explanation about why you have chosen this theme to investigate. I'm not sure about your sample size- you could have (although I doubt you did) used 1 boy and 1 girl for these results. The more students you use, the more reliable your data is likely to be. Also, one solitary graph is not sufficient in this type of survey- not is selecting only one variable- you should have looked for other points of interest like the ages of the boys and girls you used, to see if the difference was constant as boys or girls got older- a dot plot would be perfect for this. Finally, your explanation/ conclusion is very brief and full of assumptions- if you think the reaction times are related to sports, you should have looked at the data for these students to see what sports they play- otherwise you are just guessing!


 * //To use data and statistics/ To use mathematical inquiry// Adam's Statistical Inquiry ||
 * Stage 1; Identify the problem and form a question || Well done for challenging yourself and presenting your work on a wikispace- this is an innovative and simple method of showing and sharing your learning! Interesting question to investigate- where did the idea come form? Have you been thinking about this for some time- AND what could your SO WHAT be from your learning? (If there's a pattern, I guess you could get someone who plays a certain sport to carry your bag for you!?) ||
 * Stage 2; Plan and hypothesise || Interesting hypothesis- I like how you gave a reasoned idea for why you thought some students would have certain sized bags because of their routines. Hypotheses help to focus the conclusions at the end of an inquiry. Your sample size is good, and should demonstrate any true patterns or trends if they exist. ||
 * Stage 3; Data collection || Well collected- you focused on the useful data- additionally, well done for attaching your excel sheet to the wiki to be studied and to support your other evidence! ||
 * Stage 4; Analysis of data || I got a bit lost on your analysis because I couldn't see the translation between your table and the results that you included on the page- the data (on first impression) didn't seem to add to the averages that you displayed- soccer seemed strangely higher than the rest- maybe you could get a second opinion. Also, try other statistical averages like range, mode and median for each sport to support your analysis. ||
 * Stage 5; Graphing and charting your data || Your graph is clear (well attached)- 2 graphs are better than one though. What other type of graph could illustrate your results? How could you use a dot plot or box/ whisker to show the range of your results? There are some clear patterns which could be proved or disproved with a 2nd graph. ||
 * Stage 6; Interrogating your graphed data || Some clear comments focusing on the data and charts. It was a tricky issue which could also be influenced by many other things! ||
 * Stage 7; Conclusion, answer and 'So What' || Like your comments! True- you realised that there are other influences, but it was an interesting thought in the first place, and worth investigating! ||

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