Step 1: Ask a Research Question
The goal of the analysis in this lab is to compare the melting times of %chip1type% chips and %chip2type% chips.
(a) Which do you think will tend to take longer to melt - %chip1type% or %chip2type%? Or do you have no prior suspicion? [In other words, the research question will be whether there is convincing evidence that on average (choose one) %chip1type% / %chip2type% / either type of chip takes longer to melt.]
Step 2: Design a study and collect data
We will consider the population to be all college students and we are assuming the students in your stats class to be a representative sample on this issue. (Note: We are using people as the observational units, not chips.)
(b) Write a paragraph briefly summarizing how the study was conducted in class. Identify the explanatory variable and the response variable. Is each variable quantitative or categorical? Was this study an experiment or an observational study? Are the data from independent samples or paired? Was randomness used? If so, how (e.g., random sampling, random assignment) and why? Were any other precautions or "controls" taken during the course of the study?
(You may want to save this question for later.)
