Formatted Data and Hypothesis Testing Lab
Learning Objectives
- Manipulating data in Excel
- Performing quality assurance/control screening
- Formulating and testing hypotheses in Excel
- Preparing figures that are complementary to hypotheses
- Obtaining and interpreting related primary literature
Introduction
In this lab we will finalize out data collection efforts for Rowan University’s Clover CURE study. You will then develop and test two hypotheses using a subset of data from this larger study using techniques that you learned in the Statistics, Figures, and Modeling Lab. The hypotheses that you develop/test in this lab are the basis for your final project in this course, so it important that the hypotheses are well written and thought out. A large portion of your grade in this course is based on the final project and these hypotheses are the first building-blocks of that project. Once you know the result of your study, you will begin the search for primary literature that helps you to understand the broader importance and relevance of your study.
Working with your lab group and what to submit
Below are a number of questions and instructions on how to complete this lab. You should work with your lab partner to complete this activity. Once you have finished this assignment, save the completed documents and upload them to canvas before the due date.
Materials:
Materials supplied by student:
- Computer that is able to run Excel and Word
Part 1: Finalizing Data Collection
Ensure that all data collected by you, individually or with your lab partner, has been submitted to the instructor and incorporated into the master-file that holds all of the data for your section. Required data was collected during the
- Clover Data Lab
- Plant Morphometrics Lab
- Clover Cyanogenesis Lab
Part 2: Develop Your Hypotheses
There may be a delay in getting access to the finalized data if you or your classmates have not already submitted your data to the instructor. You do not need the finalized data for your section in order to develop your hypotheses. In fact, you would normally develop your hypotheses BEFORE you collect any data at all! In this case, you will be developing a study based on a subset of a larger study. We are taking an existing dataset and asking questions of it. To do such a study, all we need to know prior to writing hypotheses is what the variables are how the data was collected.
In writing your hypotheses, you need to ensure that they are “testable”. In this course, “testable” means that your hypotheses can be tested using either a Spearman Correlation or U-Test, which are tests that you already have experience with from the Statistics, Figures, and Modeling Lab. If you and your partner BOTH have experience with more advanced statistical techniques (learned in other courses), then you may adapt your hypotheses and methods to those techniques, but only with the permission of your instructor.
In order to have a cohesive study, your two hypotheses must share either a dependent variable or an independent variable. Your study will also be stronger (easier to interpret) if both hypotheses are testable using the same statistical test. These experimental design structures are summarized with examples on the next page.
Be deliberate here. Don’t just choose the first (or second) variable that comes along. You have been
