Lab 9: Backpack weighing you down?
Background: Carrying a heavy backpack can be a source of “chronic, low-level trauma,” and can cause chronic shoulder, neck, and back pain. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends that a backpack not weigh more than 10 to 15 percent of the wearer’s body weight. As the problem of over-heavy backpacks has received more attention recently among primary and secondary school students, a introductory statistics project group at Cal Poly Stat University decided to investigate the issue with students at their school. Twenty-five students were sampled from each of four locations: The Avenue, The Park, the University Union, and the Reserve Room at the Kennedy library, during the course of four days, and four different times of the day (early morning, lunch time, evening, late afternoon). Scales were used to measure backpack weight to the nearest pound, and students were asked to report their body weight on a survey. One researcher was the designated talker and introduced the survey to the participants (survey questions included major, year in school, whether have back problems, and gender). Another person in the group was in charge of reading the scale, and another in charge of gathering the surveys.
Goals: In this lab, you will review several inferential procedures. You will practice identifying the appropriate procedure from the research question while also reviewing how to carry out the procedure using technology.
Word file: lab9report.doc
Data file: Backpack.xls (Excel)
When you are ready, click Start to begin.
