1. Analysis of Study Hours
By: Alex Mensen
IME301
Winter 2010
Hello! I present to you my PowerPoint on…. An Analysis of my Study Hours! Hope you enjoy!

2. Problem & Hypothesis Data Details
Professors Statement: “A student should study at least 30 minutes each day per unit.” (CE122 Professor Janger)
Null Hypothesis: A student will not need to study at least 30mins a day per unit enrolled.
Recorded Daily
Measured in Units of Hours per class
All Study sessions rounded up if less than an hour.
Data Details
The Analysis of my study hours tries to disprove a statement that my Intro to Civil Engineering Professor said. I chose to use a null hypothesis because with the data I collected I believe that I couldn’t make an accurate enough result to find out exactly how many hours an average student had to study per unit. So I chose to just try to disprove my professors statement with only my data for this quarter.
So here’s some details on the data and the collection process. Every night before I went to bed I recorded the amount of hours I studied for that day for each individual class. If the amount was less than an hour I rounded up to the next integer so I would never record a data point too small. What I mean by too small is that because I was looking to see that I would not have to study more than 30minutes a unit I figured that if I were to round down it would damage the validity of my answer. By consistently rounding up if my result was still under 30minutes per unit I could still conclude that the null hypothesis is true All studying done after midnight was credited to the next day.

3. Statistics on Data and Findings
Sample Statistics
n = 49 Days
x̄ = Hours Studied (per day)
s = Hours Studied (per day)
Data For Null Hypothesis to be true
14 Units * 30 minutes = 7 Hours (per Day)
x̄ < 7 Hours for Null Hypothesis to Be True
I collected 49 days worth of data for each of my classes. Amounting to a total of 196 different data points. My sample mean of hours Studied per day was Hours per day for all 14 units. My standard deviation was Hours studied. If the null hypothesis was to be true, I had to find out how many hours a day I would have to study for 14 units. So if I had to study for 30 minutes for each unit, through simple multiplication we find that I would have to be studying 7 hours a day. So fi the null hypothesis was true my data would have to should that on average I studied less than 7 hours a day.

4. x̄ =
The Histogram shows that I had many days were I didn’t study at all and a few days where I crammed and had to study for many hours.

5. The boxplot also shows that the bulk of my studying durations occurred between 1 and 3 hours. You can see that on a few small occasions, (before midterms) I studied for an extended period of time which brought the average up a little bit. But again this plot clearly shows that I definitely studied under the 7 hour requirement.

6. Analysis and Findings My data proves the Null Hypothesis.
Hours per day << 7 Hours per day
This quarter so far I have maintained a passing grade in all classes.
This data disproves Professor Janger’s Hypothesis
As you may have already noticed my data definitely proves the null hypothesis which states that my CE122 professor was wrong. The amount of 30 minutes a day is clearly and exaggeration based on my data. Of course if I were to be failing any of my current classes this would discredit my null hypothesis. Luckily for me I have maintained my passing grades studying below Professor Janger’s threshold of “required time”.

7. Analysis of Possible Error
Data does not prove that a student could pass by only studying on average 2 hours a day.
Many errors are introduced when only looking at data from 1 student (myself)
This study would need to incorporate multiple students data to provide an accurate amount of study time per unit recommendation.
While my data clearly shows that the Null Hypothesis is correct, there would be a couple ways to make this study more accurate. A large margin of error is introduced by my methods of gathering data. Having only data from one student is inaccurate by nature also only studying one quarter of classes makes this study inaccurate. Some students may have to study more or I might have to study more if I were taking different classes. So to improve on my results one could study 10 students study times and then make a more accurate prediction on the time needed to study per unit enrolled in a quarter.
All in all I walked away from this studying knowing that I don’t have to study 7 hours a day to pass classes, which is definitely a relief. I will always strive to raise my average studying time though because all my data has proved that for this quarter with these specific classes can study less.
Thanks for your time and I hope that you have enjoyed this study.