Format of Study

Original Concept

We wanted to know if a correlation existed between the type of music students listen to and the level of the math class they are currently enrolled in.  However, we soon discovered that there were innumerable problems involved in collecting data from every math class in the school.  To simplify our experiment, we only used the data from regular and honors classes.

   Procedure

We learned from our instructor, Mrs. Powell, what honors and regular math   classes are offered at our school.  These classes range from Geometry to AP Calculus. We then developed a questionnaire that had provided all the possible answers for each question we asked.  We distributed questionnaires to every math class in the school.  Here is a sample of the questionnaire:

           What math class are you in this hour? (check one)           

 __Geometry __Honors Geometry __AlgII/Trig __Honors AlgII/Trig __Pre-Cal __Honors Pre-Cal __AP Calculus __AP Statistics & Probability

What type of music do you consider your personal favorite? (check one)

__Alternative __Classical __Country __Hard Rock __Heavy Metal __Hip-hop __Jazz __Lite Rock __Pop __Punk __R&B __Rap      __Other

What type of music do you actually listen to the most? (check one)

__Alternative __Classical __Country __Hard Rock __Heavy Metal __Hip-hop __Jazz __Lite Rock __Pop __Punk __R&B __Rap   __Other

       We then collected all of the surveys and entered the data into a   spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel.  Once the data was in the spreadsheet, we were able to make graphs that show side-by-side proportions for each music category of honors vs. regular.  These graphs enabled us to see the relationships that existed between people's music preferences and their mathematical skill level.  We also used the TI-83+ to find p-values.  We used a  2 Proportion Z-test for each music category to compare the differences (or lack thereof) in the proportions.  This was also graphed on Excel.

And now-- You get to see the data we collected!!!

                   

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