IA A detailed guide by criteria

[Drake Glau]

K...start with finding 2 things you feel are dependent of each other, those will be your X and Y variables. From there it is just a matter of following formulas.

[p-aige]

I want to do something to do with the amount of population in Cape Town living in Townships but how can i compare this to something?? the amount of jobs available to CT or maybe the literacy rates?

my teacher hasn't explained the project very well...

also how much data must I collect for the project? we don't have to write it for around another 2 weeks just collect the data, but what kind of data ?! heeeelllpppp

[lekhayat]

meh, IA.I keep trying to think Im interested in some variables, but I dont know if I am...? lol

Love the breakdown of the criteria

[Award Winning Boss]

This is so boring. I feel like dying.

[Drake Glau]

Ok...?

[Award Winning Boss]

Ok...?

I didn't mean the thread I meant my coursework

[Drake Glau]

If you have any interest in math, math studies is the most boring class ever =/

[Realnerd101]

Nevermind I sse it is here above...Is there a site with this info. ?

[Drake Glau]

This info written? No, I wrote all of this. You can find the exact wording of the rubric from your teacher. She/he has rubrics. The exact wording of the rubric is also included in this post though

[Katie Boyle]

For the Math Studies IA the student is to pick 2 variables they believe are related to each other in some way and test this using statistical analysis calculations. You can literally pick any two variables. I for example chose how many hours people play video games on average per week and the amount of words they could remember in a 1 minute interval.

You want this to flow like a story, no one wants to grade something where you just throw numbers at them. Explain what they mean. Explain why you did this (I don't care if it's simply saying you simplified a fraction, do it). I'm not saying the graders suck at math, I'm saying that you don't know who's getting it so assume your grader is an idiot.

Here are the criterion and for each one I'm only going to post the most points possible because you want a 7...

Criterion A: Introduction

2 The student produces a title, a clear statement of the task and a clear description of the plan.

- Don't make a dumb title. Make it relate to your investigation. I should be able to read your title and know 3 things. Both of your variables and your guess on if they are related or not (gives drama to a math IA sort of...on a nerdy level).

- Your statement. It should be explicit. It should be clear. It should outline what you are going to do with the 200 numbers you a likely to collect. I should now know 4 things. Both of your variables, a small prediction, and the math you plan to do to it.

- Now to make the grader happy (happy grader=happier grading, yes it's bias but you might as well use it for your advantage ). Make an introduction. Make it like a story. Maybe there is a reason you chose these variables? Are you interested in something about them? If they are related to sports for example, did you pick them because you love that sport? Explain these things. Also you can give a brief explanation of WHY you think they should be related. You're testing this after all, always fun to start with a guess and be proved wrong

Criterion B: Information/measurement

3 The relevant information collected, or set of measurements generated by the student, is organized in a form appropriate for analysis and is sufficient in both quality and quantity.

- Alright, quantity. It's vague I know. Let me say this. Chi Squared test=100 data points. Just go get 100 sets of data and you're set.

- Put it in a chart for the love of god. A nice columned chart (if you are doing Pearson's/Linear Line of Regression you may also include the xy, x², y² and the averages/totals you will need later)

- Relevant information...if you stated your variable was flight distance, don't collect how far the car traveled...

Criterion C: Mathematical Processes

5 The student accurately carries out a number of relevant sophisticated processes.

- Simple and EASY 5 points. Do at least 2 calculations, do 3 even! Chi-Squared, Pearson's, Linear Regression Line. If you know how to do those 3 and do them correctly, perfectly, you just got yourself a free 5 points! DO IT

Criterion Interpretation of results

3 The student produces a comprehensive discussion of interpretations and conclusions that are consistent with the mathematical processes used.

- Don't be dumb. If your Chi-Squared value was way under your critical value, don't say your original hypothesis was right...because it wasn't.

- Draw conclusions using ALL the calculations you did. Maybe your chi-squared value says they have no relationship but just barely (just slightly below your critical value, very slightly) but your Pearson's value says there is absolutely no correlation between the points (this is a value between -0.3 and 0.3)

- Explain your interpretation. Some people may think that a correlation coefficient of 0.6 is pretty good but other's might think it's terrible. Relate the value to what you collected (this is why it says discuss), are there reasons that your value could be lower than what it should be? You can discuss (if this happens, I don't know if it's even possible) why your correlation coefficient suggests a decent relationship but your chi-squared test says there is none. Which one do you trust more? Etc...

- This is where math meets practicality. Be practical. Take the conclusion out of the number world and into the real world.

Criterion E: Validity

2 The student has made a serious attempt to comment on both the mathematical processes used and the interpretations/conclusions made.

- Why you used the math you did. How valid are the results from the math? did you do it by hand? Did you do it by a calculator? Did you do both to double check your work? Explain what you did to ensure that your math is perfect.

Criterion F: Structure and Communication

3 The student has produced a project that is well structured and communicated in a coherent manner.

- STORY. This needs to flow. I know it sounds weird, stories in a math class, but you can make a coherent IA. You did it for your group4 IA after all

- This is grading you on how you connected the math to the real world and how you communicated the numbers but as words and sentences.

Criterion G: Commitment

2 The student showed full commitment.

- How do you get these 2 points? Make an IA that LOOKS like it took more than 2 hours to make (you could BS data and do this in 2 hours, but you didn't, did you?). Things that show this are the collecting of 100 data points. Taking the time to make the story flow. Adding in background information in the introduction. Spell/grammar check the dang thing. If there are errors you obviously weren't committed enough to proofread...

If you have more questions or still don't understand something related to the IA itself feel free to ask. Any specific math questions (questions regarding Criterion C and involve numbers) should be asked in the Math Help Thread

I was wondering what kind of variables you could compare in a t-test? Could you give me something random just as an example so that I can get an idea? Thanks so much!

Katie

[Drake Glau]

Any quantitative variables as far as I know...as long as you can get them into numbers which is almost everything, even colors you could technically change into frequencies or wavelength

If you have an idea of what you want to do you can always just post that and someone, or myself, will reply.

[Pri22]

Hey you guys, this is my survey for the IA. Its due soon, so help me out?
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/72Z6XB9

[gianlu22]

Do I only have to do only one statistical analysis ? Or can I do Pearson's correlation coefficient, chi square test and regression line?

[ProcrastinationHigher]

I'm slowly losing my mind because my Math Studies teacher has never done IB in her life and she doesn't know anything about the technical process of doing the coursework.

My IA question is relatively simple according to a lot of my peers but I am still having trouble with actually getting the data and what to do with it.

My question is: Is there a correlation between race and employment in the uk?

I'm certain that this isn't correctly worded but I am so lost, how would I go about starting? Do I go to a website that has the percentages of employment and then what step do I take from there?

Any help would be much appreciated.

[confusionism]

My teacher said I only need 30 data points and I currently have 45. Just asking, am I going to fail???

[Nomenclature]

On 2017-12-16 at 6:11 PM, confusionism said:

My teacher said I only need 30 data points and I currently have 45. Just asking, am I going to fail???

I doubt it?

[adamelakkad2]

Regarding the further processes, I understand that Pearson's correlation coefficient and Chi Squared tests are accepted as further math processes. But can nonlinear regression (like Logarithmic linear regression or logistic linear regression) be considered a further process as well? And if one has a strong understanding of higher level math functions but they're not in the Math Studies textbook or in the curriculum provided by the teacher, does IB penalize you for that or do they not care? Reason why I ask is because I'm doing a population forecast for the population of the United States of America in 2050, by race (american indian/alaskan native, asian/pacific islander, white, black, age (in 5 year age groups), sex (male/female), nativity (foreign born vs. us. born) and hispanic origin (yes/no) and I figured that I could use a logarithmic linear plot to find what I'm looking for.