The AssignmentSample TopicsComponentsProposalFinal ReportA note on graphics, tables, and other ways to present dataSupporting MaterialsData and MetadataScripts/Do-FilesBoring detailsResourcesMIT OpenCourseWarehttp://ocw.mit.edu 11.220 Quantitative Reasoning & Statistical Methods for Planners I Spring 2009 For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.Quantitative Reasoning and Statistical Methods Written Assignment #3: Data Analysis Exercise Ezra Haber Glenn, aicp Proposal Due: 4/16/09 Final Project Due: 5/14/09 1 The Assignment For this assignment you are asked to use everything you have learned in class to gather and analyze your own quantitative information, and to present your findings in a clear, thoughtful, and honest report. The actual choice of topic is entirely yours, although you must first describe it in a proposal meeting the approval of your TA. 1.1 Sample Topics To help get you started, here are some sample topics (although choosing any of these without good reason may be taken as evidence of lack of creativity on your part): • An evaluation of changes to the Community Development Block Grant funding over the past 30 years, with special attention to the effects these changes have had on different types of cities. • An analysis of the effects of local wetland protection laws on rates of development, using a statewide data set for New Jersey during the years 1990-2005. • A discussion of the (hypothesized) disconnect between international fund-ing levels for prevention activities and the damage done by different dis-eases. • A exploration of voting patterns for Asian-Americans in California, to investigate whether there is evidence for more “ethnic/affinity voting” occurring in local elections (as contrasted to state/federal elections) for this population. You might also want to look back over the readings we have had in class, and those articles/reports covered in the second written assignment, for additional inspiration. 12 Components This assignment actually consists of a number of different sub-components, in-cluding a proposal, a dataset, a written report, and some supporting documen-tation and metadata. 2.1 Proposal Before you can begin work on your final project, you must submit a proposal on the idea to your TA. In your proposal, please describe the following: Problem Statement What questions are you seeking to answer through your project, and why do they matter? How, specifically, will quantitative information be used to address these particular issues? Hypothesis/Argument What, if any, is the hypothesis your are hoping to test or argument you are expecting to assert? (Having a research hypoth-esis is highly recommended; strictly speaking, you could manage to write an interesting and insightful paper without one—and we are not looking for a full-blown scientific article or anything—but the language of hy-potheses and scientific research can be helpful to structure your argument even along less rigorous lines.) Along with your research hypothesis, you might want to think about issues such as a “null hypothesis,” dependent and independent variables, confounding and lurking variables, internal and external validity, sources of bias and noise, and all the other aspects of measurement theory, scientific method, and research design we spoke of in the first half of the class. Data Sources What data sources have you identified, and what issues (if any) do you anticipate in terms of acquiring them, converting formats, cleaning, correcting, modifying, joining sets, and filling gaps. What concerns might you have regarding measurement instruments, bias in sampling, missing values, and the like, and how do you intend to deal with these problems? (You do not need to say everything that could be said in this section, but we want to use this as a placeholder to remind you of the significant amount of time you may need to spend gathering the data and “making it your own.”) Your proposal does not need to be very long—1 or 2 pages should be fine— but it should demonstrate that you have (a) identified an interesting topic that will allow you to demonstrate the full range of skills you have mastered in the class, (b) focused your thinking to a level that will be manageable given the scale of this assignment, and (c) begun to think about what information you will use and how you will use it. Please note that timely submission of the proposal—and thoughtful consid-eration of the aspects of the project at this early stage—will count for up to 10% of the final grade (in addition to making your finished paper better). If 2your proposal is not received by April 16, your TA will not be allowed to give you a grade for this portion. 2.2 Final Report Your final report should describe the work you did and the findings of your investigation. Although there is no set format for the final report, we recommend that you include some sort of Summary, a short Background section setting your project in context, a section on Methodology, and a section on Key Findings. Importantly, given the time and space constraints, you should not feel the need to be exhaustive or definitive—save that for your thesis. The purpose of this project is simply to get you started working with quantitative data related to your work in planning, development, design, and/or policy, and to give you a chance to show off everything you’ve learned. 2.2.1 A note on graphics, tables, and other ways to present data Depending on your topic, your skills, and your interests, some of you may be content to include graphs and tables directly into your report, while others may choose to provide them in some other format (e.g., embedded in an on-line application, plotted on a map, published as an animated flip-book, etc.). Either is fine—and we are happy to see you explore creative ways to present quantitative data—but please be mindful of the fact that we will need to read and evaluate approximately 60 reports in a very short period of time, and would prefer to not have to manage too many different pieces. 2.3 Supporting Materials Beyond the actual written report and related graphs and tables, you are also