Some of you have illustrated an interest in doing a project and taking exam 3. Initially the plan was either exam 3 or project and I would like to be helpful to those who wish to do both but also fair to the class as a whole.

The three exams account for 80% (25+25+30) of the final grade. So my final decision is to account the project as 13% of the final grade and remove 13% from the WORST exam grade (contingent on getting a higher grade on the project than any of the exams).

As a word of caution, the project will be graded on a higher standard than the homework usually is.

The project should be at least 5 pages, in paper format (i.e, intro, descriptive methods, graphs, methodology, choice of model(s) [most important], interpretation, conclusion). You must provide the source of your data (and code used). There must not be ANY categorical data analysis on that data set. Also, data sets on which categorical analysis is asked to be performed, such as in homework sections of books etc is also not permissible as answers and analyses are also available (but maybe not as easily). For example, no data sets from any of Dr. Agresti's books/notes/papers is permissible since those data sets have been greatly studied. To summarize, you must show original work.

As a guideline, if you need to find a data set do not search "categorical data" as that will probably yield an already analyzed result. Try looking at survey data such as the General Social Survey (GSS) or other available data banks.

The project is due Wednesday April 25th by 5pm in my mailbox.