Individual Project
In this project, you need to find a publicly available secondary dataset (free or purchased by the university library) which showcases an interesting phenomenon.
Appendix 1: Guidelines for the individual project
Task:
Find a secondary dataset which showcases an interesting phenomenon. Use a chart to present your finding. You MUST make your own chart from a raw dataset or using an online tool.
Requirements:
1. The phenomenon can be about any topics in social sciences (e.g., business, psychology, sociology, political science, economics, etc.) or any topics relevant to our everyday life.
2. The dataset must be publicly available (or purchased by UCR libraries). You may combine multiple datasets if necessary.
3. You need be either the first one who discovers this phenomenon, or the first one who showcase this phenomenon using the data that you use. (Hint: do a google search before you decide to work on the idea -- if there is obviously someone who have made very similar claim as you do, you should be aware).
What to Submit?
1. A chart - your project will ONLY be graded based on the chart.
2. If the chart is made from a dataset using Excel: Provide step-by-step instructions on how to download the dataset and which columns (variables) you used; if the chart is made from an online tool: Provide step-by-step instructions on how to make your chart on that website.
3. A research memo (ONLY IF NECESSARY), in which you may very briefly include any of the following statements: a) your findings/conclusions, b) why your finding is interesting, and c) how your findings/conclusions are supported by the data.
Evaluation:
1) Whether the phenomenon is counter-intuitive/counter-normative/novel.
2) Whether your finding/conclusion can be reasonably be drawn from your data.
3) How easy it is for others to understand your finding by merely looking at the chart.