Spring Term 2010 D.Garey

OCR Nationals Level 3

Unit 3 – Problem Solving

A01 Define a statistical

problem to be

investigated

Spring Term 2010 D.Garey

Defining the Problem

• Needs to be something that you can easily test (think in terms of access to participants and data)

• Have a look at current events for inspiration or….

Spring Term 2010 D.Garey

Miss Garey’s Inspirations

• Social issues

• Moral trends

• Usage of ICT across generations

• Opinions regarding current affairs

• What ICT is used for

• Media, TV and music

• Health topics

• Careers and the future

Spring Term 2010 D.Garey

Defining the Problem (2)

• After deciding on a topic, theme or area you must research the field before posing a question to investigate

• Start broad and general and then focus down to the specifics

• Reference anything you use

• Your opinion doesn’t count!

• Explore both sides to any argument

Spring Term 2010 D.Garey

Some Research Terms• Variable –characteristic/property of person, object or

situation• Quantitative Variable –measurable i.e. height,

weight, IQ• Qualitative Variable –categories such as sex,

nationality, blood type• Independent variable (IV) –what is being manipulated

by the experimenter• Dependent variable (DV) –what is being measured

during the experiment, supposedly influenced by the IV

Spring Term 2010 D.Garey

More Research Terms• Extraneous Variable –outside scope of control

that could influence outcomes• Correlation –exploring affect of 2 variables in a

statistical test DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION!• Between subjects factors –participant is tested

under only 1 condition• Within Subjects –same participants perform

under both conditions (also termed repeated measures)

Spring Term 2010 D.Garey

Hypotheses• By now you should have decided what you want

to investigate• You need to make SPECIFIC predictions about

what the outcome of your investigation will be• It has to be testable by the gathering of data• Directive Hypotheses (one tailed) state what the

outcome with be• Two Tailed Hypotheses state 2 alternative

outcomes (either, or)

Spring Term 2010 D.Garey

Defining the Problem Continued…

• You now need to identify your project objectives and set your own success criteria

• Show awareness of the Data Protection Act when it comes to collecting, storing and reporting data

Spring Term 2010 D.Garey

Types of Data

• 1) interval data –measurements on independent scale with units

• 2) ordinal data –ranks/sequencing of information

• 3)nominal/categorical data –qualitative categories

Spring Term 2010 D.Garey

All investigations are either…

• Quantitative –measurable statistically, countable, i.e. closed question surveys, multiple choice, test conditions, empirical, scientific

• Qualitative –observation notes, open questioning, discourse analysis, transcript analysis

Spring Term 2010 D.Garey

To complete A01…• You must cover all of these points:• identify the problem• • explain background to the problem• • set a hypothesis e.g. ‘Young people with Internet

access at home do better at school’• • identify project objectives and success criteria• • identify data to be collected and the method(s) of

processing• • demonstrate an awareness of the Data Protection Act

1998