Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Each question required at least 350 words answer.

Question 1: Poll Analysis [40 points]
Investigate the validity of a poll for yourself, using what Wheelan has taught us about these instruments' potential biases. Start by finding a recently published poll online. (If you don't frequent news websites or have a particular issue in mind, an easy way to find a recent poll is to go to a website like gallup.com, or you can Google something like “new york times poll,” “Washington post-poll,” “CNN poll,” etc.) State what poll you're investigating, who carried it out and when, and where it can be found online (with a specific URL). Next, find and read the description of the poll's methodology, and summarize the sampling methods used to collect the data. Then skim the poll's questions and evaluate how well some of the more interesting questions avoid bias through their wording. Give three examples, either of bad choices of wording or of good choices where different wording might have produced biased answers. Finally, evaluate the overall validity of the poll. Does the sampling method seem like it provides a sample representative of the respective population? Are the questions asked in such a way as to promote honest and accurate answers?

Question 2: Statistics, the Breakfast of Champions [40 points]
Imagine that you've just collected a bunch of data on college students, particularly their eating habits and their performance in school. Because of all that you've learned from Wheelan, your sampling and measurement methods are flawless, so now you're ready to do some hypothesis testing. You're convinced that college students who eat Wheaties breakfast cereal (the “breakfast of champions”) get better grades than those who do not eat Wheaties. Beyond that, you believe that the more Wheaties a given student eats, the better his or her grades will be. Describe and explain the process of carrying out your test of this hypothesis, step by step, beginning with a null hypothesis and finally stating your findings. (Make up the needed unknown statistics if it makes it easier to describe and explain the process.)