These exercises give students practical experience with key data-gathering and data-analysis methods.  Here are the topics and brief overviews; the details will be presented in class.  (Due dates can be found on the Course Schedule page.)

Please consult the Field and Data Exercise Rubric
for details about how these will be graded.
(Note: This is the old rubric; it will be replaced with the new grading system)

Data Exercises:

1. 1. Describing Aggregate Data: Students will describe data using measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion to describe how particular traits vary across a population.
   2. Finding Patterns in Aggregate Data:  Students will use correlations and scatterplots to explore the relationships between pairs (and groups) of variables.
   3. Describing Survey Results:  Students will use distributions  to describe survey results and cross-tabulations to highlight differences between survey sub-groups.
   4. Using Control Variables: Students will use control variables to show the differences between groups on survey results
   5. Finding Group Differences: Students will explore various other ways to analyze group differences. 
      

Field Exercise:

Group Interview Project:  The class as a whole will design and carry out an interview or focus group project.  Each student will report on her or his results.