Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MDM4U Ch2
MDM4U Ch2
MDM4U Ch2
1 Developing a Thesis
In this section, you will compile a personal interest inventory and will compare
your results with those of your classmates. You will also work at developing a
thesis question, which will become the focus of your project. To complete the
course project, you may wish to work as a team with other students who share
your interests.
Personal Interest Inventory
Academic Subjects
A1 Anthropology A10 Geology A19 Politics
A2 Astronomy A11 German A20 Psychology
A3 Biology A12 History A21 Religion
A4 Chemistry A13 Law A22 Sociology
A5 Computers A14 Literature A23 Spanish
A6 Economics A15 Mathematics A24 Visual Arts
A7 English A16 Phys. Ed. A25 World Issues
A8 French A17 Physics
A9 Geography A18 Poetry
Select your three favourite academic subjects from the 25 listed above and rank
them in order. Do the same with the 25 non-academic interests listed below and
record them in a chart. You can add or delete certain topics from these lists.
Non-Academic Interests
N1 Baseball N9 Football N18 Reading
N2 Basketball N10 Gymnastics N19 Rugby
N3 Camping N11 Hiking N20 Singing
N4 Carpentry N12 Hockey N21 Skiing
N5 Cars N13 Painting N22 Travelling
N6 Computer N14 Part-Time Job N23 Volleyball
Programming N15 Physical Fitness N24 Volunteering
N7 Cycling N16 Playing Music N25 Writing
N8 Figure Skating N17 Politics
Procedure
A. (Without technology) Record your ranked set of favourite subjects and inter-
ests on paper in a chart similar to the spreadsheet below. To make the com-
parison easier, use the labels from the list instead of the actual subject and
interest names.
A B C D E F G H
1 Academic Subject Non-Academic Interest
2 Favourite Second Third Favourite Second Third
3 My interests A15 A2 A16 N12 N6 N25
4 Student Score
5
B. In finding a score for each of your classmates, try to match each of their
selections to one of yours using the following guide to assign points:
For example, if you and a classmate share the same favourite, give that stu-
? Think about
Spreadsheet dent 10 points; if your second choice is that student’s third choice, give her or
Formulas him 2 points. If you don’t share any favourites with that classmate, assign
If you are using a spread- 0 points. The classmate with the highest score is the one with interests most
sheet formula, why is it
important to use a stan- similar to yours.
dardized entry like the
labels here (e.g., A15)
A. (With spreadsheet technology) Create a spreadsheet similar to the one above
instead of words? and record your favourites as shown.
B. Since you have used consistent entries, you can write a formula using logical
Technolink operators to add up the score each person should receive. Use the CD that
For more
information on using accompanies this textbook to access these formulas.
logical operators and
formulas with spreadsheet A B C D E F G H
software, see Appendix E, 1 Academic Subject Non-Academic Interest
pages 425 and 426. 2 Favourite Second Third Favourite Second Third
3 My interests A15 A2 A16 N12 N6 N25
4 Student Score
Technolink 5 Carlos A10 A5 A3 N3 N1 N2 13
This spreadsheet
6 Phoebe A2 A3 A16 N1 N2 N3 7
and its formulas are
7 Ralph A4 A5 A6 N7 N8 N9 0
included on the
8 Wanda A23 A14 A15 N12 N8 N1 13
textbook CD.
9 Dorothy A2 A16 A10 N12 N23 N25 19
10 Keisha A14 A1 A3 N8 N10 N13 0
Based on the example above, you share the most interests with Dorothy.
FINDING A TOPIC
You may be struggling with simplifying a large project idea and turning it into a
thesis—a formal more manageable project thesis. A mind map can help you organize the infor-
statement or question that mation you have.
your project will answer or
discuss
A mind map is a brainstorming tool that can illustrate how a topic relates to
other concepts. You can use it to expand on the interests you discovered in your
mind map—a visual
display used in
investigation.
brainstorming to illustrate To see how to construct a mind map, consider how Riyaz uses them as he
relationships expands on the results of his investigation.
Solution
Starting from the centre, connect all six interests in the most meaningful way
possible. One obvious connection would be to link the three non-academic
interests and the three academic subjects. In addition, divide his purely scientific
interests from his interests in social science. His political and non-political inter-
ests should also be separated.
Astronomy Geography
Project
Connection Pure Sciences Academic Subjects Social Sciences
A mind map is a
great way to get Riyaz
World Issues
started. Take your
six favourites and
create one of Non- Political Non-Academic Interests Politics
your own.
Travelling Hockey
Astronomy Geography
World Issues
Riyaz
Solution
AIDS Pandemic
Project
Connection World Issues
Border Conflicts
From your mind
map, take an end- Malnutrition/Refugees International Trade
point of interest
or a junction
Riyaz can think of four related topics; however, malnutrition/refugees strikes
between two
him as a topic worthy of study. With this in mind, he brainstorms and creates a
parts and work at
number of questions that can be explored with the use of statistical information.
developing a
thesis question.
Solution
Solution
After coming up with four topics of interest, Stephanie chose the topic Money in
Sports. With that in mind, she thought of four questions:
(a) How do people at my school feel about high salaries in professional sports?
(b) How have salaries paid to professional hockey players and professional foot-
ball players in Canada changed from 1960 to the present?
(c) Is there a relationship between a very large salary increase to an athlete and
his or her subsequent performance?
(d) Does the amount (either overall or calculated per capita) that a country
spends to prepare its athletes for the Olympics correspond to the country’s
success at the Games?
KEY IDEAS
Men Women
Calories 2500–3000 2000
Protein 63 g 50 g
Total fat 60–75 g 50–60 g
Saturated fat 20–25 g 15–20 g
Cholesterol 300 mg 300 mg
Fibre 20–30 g 20–30 g
Carbohydrate 340 g 275 g
Sodium 2400 mg 2400 mg
1 Reader’s Digest, The How-To Book of Healthy Cooking: Good Food That’s Good For You
(Pleasantville, New York: The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., 1995) 9.
Dishes2
Housekeeping Items
• assessment criteria
• due date
Alternative Approaches • timeline
• any other requirements
Possible Topics to
Be Covered The Thesis Question
Prior Knowledge
• personal experiences
• readings
Areas to Research • other sources
19. Communication Consider the following thesis question: Are most of the
problems faced by countries in the world—such as poverty, hunger, and
environmental destruction—the consequences of excessive population
growth? Determine whether or not this is an example of a good thesis
question and justify your reasoning.
Chapter Problem
Mystery Most Mathematical—Part I
Good luck!
data—a body or series of It is evident from the definition that virtually anything can qualify as data.
facts or information Although some data requires an immediate response and relatively little analysis
(for example, the data your nervous system transmits to your brain after touching
a hot stove), other data, specifically research data, takes years to collect and
requires detailed analysis to understand it.
In this section, you will learn to refine your thesis question in order to collect
specific kinds of information. You will then adapt your thesis question to gather
data from a specific group.
Solution
Your first attempt at a thesis question might be What is the pattern of growth
(height) of students from the time they enter high school until they graduate?
This is a good start, but it is not clear precisely who is the target of the study.
Are any students to be considered, or only the students in their first and last year
of high school? Are females and males treated alike for the purpose of this
inference—a conclusion study? Can an inference be made about growth patterns of high school students
about the population that is beyond the borders of your school community?
made from the sample
longitudinal study—a
study that considers Example 2 Identifying the Type of Study
individuals over a long The need for a better student centre has always been an issue in your school.
period of time Identify a thesis question for this topic that clearly defines the population, and
then suggest a method of study.
Solution
The first draft of your thesis question is How do the opinions about the student
centre change among students from Grade 9 to Grade 12?
You have clearly identified the population for your study as only the
students who attend your school; however, it is unclear what type of study you
wish to undertake. Do you want to ask students from each grade (a cross-
sectional study), or do you intend to interview a selection of Grade 9 students
and then return to ask them again next year when they are in Grade 10, and
so on (a longitudinal study)?
A longitudinal study allows you to analyze the way a variable like a person’s
time series data—data opinion changes over time. This form of data is called time series data.
that have accumulated over Longitudinal studies are usually expensive and can be very difficult to undertake.
a long period of time
Despite these challenges, it is the method of choice for psychological and med-
ical studies.
Since you are in Grade 12, it is impractical for you to return to your school
for the next three years to collect data for a longitudinal study (also, your teacher
is unlikely to approve such a study). A cross-sectional study is quicker, easier,
and more suitable in this situation.
When outlining the type of study, you should also mention whether you plan
to collect sample data or population data by taking a census. Since it is unlikely
that you can interview all the students in your school, you must focus on a
random sample of the students instead. You will learn more about sampling in
Section 2.3.
A second draft of your thesis question is How do the opinions about the
student centre among a random sample of students in Grades 9 and 12 differ?
KEY IDEAS
2.2 Exercises
Chapter Problem
Mystery Most Mathematical—Part II
TYPES OF SAMPLES
random—occurring by Simple Random Sampling
chance
A simple random sample requires that
• all selections must be equally likely
• all combinations of selections must be equally likely
A random sample may not end up being representative of the population, but
any deviations are due only to chance.
1 The president is technically elected by the Electoral College. This body of individuals is chosen
by each state and the number of representatives is roughly proportional to each state’s population.
Representatives vote according to the popular vote in their state. This means that most presidential
elections reflect the country’s overall popular vote.
Solution
Mimi must survey 25% of 20 units, or 5 units. To calculate the sampling interval,
you divide the population size by the sample size.
population size 20
1 2 3 4
ᎏᎏ
sample size
⫽ ᎏ5ᎏ
⫽4
This means that you must sample every fourth apartment. Mimi
uses a four-sided die to decide which of the first four apartments she
5 6 7 8 should start at. If Unit 2 is the random starting point, she would then
select units 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18.
Systematic random sampling, like simple random sampling, has a
random starting point, but it follows a rigid pattern, defined by the
9 10 11 12 sampling interval.
Solution
17 18 19 20
They could approach this by sampling and questioning residents in
each of four large cities representing different regions of the country.
In this case, the strata would be based on four geographic regions of
Canada: the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Ontario, and the Western
provinces. Within each stratum, they would select the largest city and then ran-
domly choose adult residents to answer their questionnaire. The number to be
sampled in each city would be randomly chosen.
One problem with this method is that Toronto has 10 times the population of
Halifax and is underrepresented in this sample. Section 2.5 will further explore
avoiding bias in samples.
Solution
From the list of five elementary schools in the region, the Board would randomly
select two schools. (To do this, they would roll a six-sided die until two of the
first five digits appear.). Once the schools are selected, the parents or guardians
of each student are surveyed.
1 e.g.,
2 = school
= student/household
= student/household surveyed
3
4 5
KEY IDEAS
Chapter Problem
Mystery Most Mathematical—Part III
jto@coldmail.com aside:
This is the third communication that I have received and I still haven’t
got a clue who is writing to me. Each time I have received a message, I
reply immediately, but all my replies bounce back. The sender is clearly
covering her or his tracks. There must be a pattern! It’s so frustrating that
I can’t see it yet.
Checklist Questions
Which of the following sports do you enjoy watching? (Check as many as apply.)
❑ basketball ❑ baseball
❑ cricket ❑ hockey
❑ lacrosse ❑ soccer
Ranking Questions
Here is a list of concerns for teenagers. Please rank them in order of importance
from 1 (most important) to 4 (least important).
__ graduating high school __ finding a friend
__ getting a summer job __ learning to drive
__ choosing a career
Rating Questions
How satisfied were you with the DJ for the Valentine’s Day dance?
❑ very satisfied ❑ satisfied
❑ dissatisfied ❑ very dissatisfied
KEY IDEAS
2.4 Exercises
Chapter Problem
Mystery Most Mathematical—Part IV
In collecting data for your course project, the truth is your goal. To avoid
distorting the truth, your data-collection methods must be carefully executed.
In this section, you will explore how a researcher may unintentionally influence
bias—an unintended results, and you will develop ways to avoid bias in your research.
influence on a data-
gathering method
Plan A
Students have lunch in periods 2, 3, or 4. By random draw from a hat, you have
decided to conduct the survey in the cafeteria during period 4. The first 50 stu-
dents who enter the cafeteria are given the questionnaire, and you instruct them
to fill it out and return it to you before the end of lunch.
What is wrong with this scenario?
A number of possible biases are built into this scenario. Quite often in high
schools, lunch hours are populated by one or two grades due to timetabling con-
straints. This would result in a sampling bias.
The method by which the surveys were to be collected could also lead to a
non-response bias— non-response bias. It is highly likely that only a few of the people who actually
when surveys are not received the questionnaire would return it.
returned, thus influencing
the result
Plan B
Classes Categorized by Size
24
To fix the problems with Plan A, you have
20
decided to provide a questionnaire to one person
16 from each homeroom (your sample size is now
Number of 73). You can wait until the respondent finishes
Classes 12
8 with the questionnaire to collect it. This will
4 eliminate the non-response bias.
0
1–8 9–16 17–24 25–32 33–40 What is wrong with this scenario?
Class Size Examine the graph to the left. Whereas 12 stu-
dents would represent the opinions of, at most,
Election Survey
The committee’s identity is
removed. Circle the appropriate response.
Every student has a home- Gender: Male Female
room designation (even
those with spares in the Homeroom #: __________
first period).
On Election Day, I intend to vote for
Candidates are listed alpha-
Melanie Rebecca Zahir
betically and without
bolding. It is my opinion that student council’s priorities should be as follows
(list up to three priorities):
An open question is used
to elicit unbiased 1. __________________________________________________________________________
responses.
2. __________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
KEY IDEAS
2.5 Exercises
jto@coldmail.com aside:
It strikes me as odd that these messages are sent at the strangest times of
day. Maybe a pattern will emerge.
While all data are, at some point, primary, the vast majority of information used
by researchers is secondary data. The only real distinction between the two is
that with secondary sources, you do not have control over the data-collection
techniques.
In this section, you will learn basic research skills to ensure that you end up
with quality data. You will also look at some issues related to using the Internet
as a source of data.
The time and money required to conduct primary research makes it an
impractical data-collection method, particularly in the context of a high school
mathematics course. Fortunately, there are reputable secondary sources that can
provide the type of reliable data you may require for your course project. One of
these sources is Statistics Canada (Statscan). The federal government mandates
Technolink
Statistics Canada
and funds Statscan to conduct a census every five years, and the vast quantities
Web site: of raw data that Statscan collects can be accessed by the public. However, as a
www.statcan.ca researcher, it is up to you to make sense of the data you acquire.
RELIABILITY OF SOURCES
When collecting primary data, you must ensure that
• the sample size is reasonably large
• the random sampling technique is well-designed (simple, systematic,
stratified, cluster, multi-stage)
• the questionnaires are designed to avoid bias
• the data is compiled accurately and experimental data is free of measurement
bias
Technolink
When you obtain secondary data, you must check to ensure they are reliable.
A search of the Find out the author’s credentials, how up-to-date the information is, and what
phrase other researchers have cited the same data. Determine what bias might be
link: www.nelson.com on inherent in the data-collection methods. Be especially wary of privately funded
www.altavista.ca will give
you a list of sites that have studies, which may put the interests of the organization funding the study ahead
a link to the Nelson Web of public interest. Once you have established the credibility of the source, docu-
site. ment key information: source name, applicable copyright information, when and
where you accessed it (if it is a Web site), how the data were originally collected,
and so on.
Solution
Solution
2.6 Exercises
A 1. Describe the kind of results each of the following search strings will
generate.
(a) Thomas Engine +trains
(b) Gandalf +site:members.tripod.com
(c) Sharks –hockey
(d) Canad* +domain:ca
(e) (Hot & Dog) | (Ketchup | Mustard)
(f) “Slim Whitman” OR “Slim Witman”
2. Knowledge and Understanding
(a) Explain the difference between a Web directory and a search engine.
(b) For each of the following scenarios, indicate which service would
provide better results: a Web directory or a search engine.
(i) researching the history of Trinidad
(ii) finding discussion forums on novels written by J.R.R. Tolkien
(iii) conducting research on a brand of cell phone
(iv) researching cell phones in general
Data can be found in many forms. Once you find data, you must take them in the
form in which you originally found them and then transform them into data that
you can work with. Consider the following ways to store data.
SPREADSHEETS
Much of the data you will find will be organized in a spreadsheet. Both text
and numerical information can be organized in rows and columns. Spreadsheet
programs provide the user with an almost limitless number of formulas to
manipulate data. Here are a few features of a spreadsheet program:
Technolink Cells: Names for the positions where the data are stored. (e.g., A1 is the
Help menus cell containing “Item”)
provided by spreadsheet Formulas: Calculations can be made within a spreadsheet using data in other
software are very useful.
For suggestions on using cells (e.g., in cell D9, the formula =sum(D2…D7) is being used to
spreadsheets, see sum the entries in that column)
Appendix E starting on
page 425. August 31—Revenue for Sam’s Hamburger Wagon
A B C D
1 Item Price Quantity Revenue
2 Hamburger $2.39 83 $198.37
3 Hot Dog $1.59 29 $46.11
4 Fries $1.19 117 $139.23
5 Small Drink $0.99 32 $31.68
6 Medium Drink $1.29 56 $72.24
7 Large Drink $1.59 71 $112.89
8
9 Total Revenue $600.52
10
GATHERING DATA
In some cases, you will simply copy or transcribe the data exactly as you find
them. For example, a graph or a table presents data that have already been
manipulated to a point where the researcher can draw conclusions. There are,
however, situations in which you may need to use the data in a different manner.
For example, if the graph is in the form of a scatter plot, you may wish to manu-
ally input the coordinates of each point into a spreadsheet.
Most data are available in one of several forms:
• raw data printed in tabular form
• spreadsheet data
• information in computer databases
For raw data in tabular form, you would transcribe them into a database or a
spreadsheet. It is difficult to move spreadsheet data into a database efficiently,
but information in columnar form can usually be copied and pasted into spread-
sheets.
Spreadsheets offer a variety of useful ways to manipulate data. Formulas can
be introduced into free cells to carry out simple or complex mathematical opera-
tions. For example, means, standard deviations, and correlation coefficients can
be calculated automatically. Also, spreadsheets provide a method to create a
number of different types of graphs, including bar graphs, histograms, broken-
line graphs, circle graphs, and scatter plots.
Fathom™, a dynamic statistics software package, provides you with oppor-
Technolink
For more informa- tunities to view and analyze data in unique and powerful ways. This chapter only
tion about importing data addresses how to move data from an outside source into the program.
into Fathom™, see
Appendix D.4 on page 418.
Solution
You can always type the spreadsheet into Fathom™; however, a larger file would
become tedious. Since there are more sophisticated solutions that have less
chance of introducing error, they are best even when the spreadsheet is small.
Highlight and copy the cells you want to transfer from the spreadsheet program.
In Fathom™, drag a collection from the tool shelf into the workspace and
then select Edit … Paste Cases. You can drag a new case table from the tool
shelf and drop it into the workspace. It will be automatically filled with the
copied data from the spreadsheet. The data are now in Fathom™ for you to
Solution
Text data on a Web site are formatted for appearance and are sometimes quite
difficult to make use of. Fathom™ is capable of making sophisticated adjust-
ments to text data, making it possible to take a Web site and simply drag and
drop it into your Fathom™ workspace.
Once you have Fathom™ running on your desktop, you can click on the Web
page icon in the address box and drag it onto your Fathom™ workspace. Once
you drop it there, a table will appear.
You may need to rename attributes
for each column in the table by
double-clicking on the attribute at
the top.
When downloading data directly
from Web sites into Fathom™, you
must take care to compare the orig-
inal data to the imported data. On
occasion, you will have to clean up
the data by relabelling attributes or
making appropriate corrections.
2.7 PREPARING DATA 129
KEY IDEAS
2.7 Exercises
10
9
8
7
6
Population
5
(billions)
4
3
2
1
0
1950 1970 1990 2010 2030 2050
Year
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, International Programs Center
(iii) y (iv)
8 8
6 6
Count
4 4
2 2
x x
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
(v) (vi)
8 8
6 6
Count Count
4 4
2 2
x x
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
6. Estimate the coordinates of ordered pairs that are displayed in the scatter
plot below.
Tire Circumference vs. Price
90
80
Price 70
($) 60
50
40
? Think about
Temperatures in
260
Kelvin
240
0oC = 273K
Temperature
220
(K)
200
180
0
1 2 3 4 5
Sol
Source: Project “Live From Earth and Mars,” Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences,
University of Washington – J.E. Tillman
(a) Using the graph only, record the daily high and low temperature.
(b) How would you calculate the average daily temperature? Use your
method and compare your results with Question 13(b).
15. The following graph shows changes in the atmospheric pressure recorded
? Think about
Mars by Viking Lander 1 on five consecutive days on the surface of Mars.
Atmospheric pressure on Viking Lander 1
Mars is about 1% of what
we are accustomed to. 7.1
7.0
6.9
Pressure
6.8
(mb)
6.7
6.6
0
1 2 3 4 5
Sol
Source: Project “Live From Earth and Mars,” Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences,
University of Washington – J.E. Tillman