Anderson,+B

Variables: Oral Scores and test scores Is there a correlation between the population of region of residence and the scores of competitors? Variables: Overall scores population of region of residence (division of regions: which schools correspond with which regions required) Is there a correlation between the grade of a student and his or her results in competition? Variables: Grade of Student and Overall Scores. (contact Olga Plagianakos for student grades.) || Is there a correlation between family size and carbon footprint? Variables: Family sizes in Canada and size of footprint Is there a correlation between number of pets owned by a family and amount of emissions? Variables: Number of pets per Canadian household and the amount of emissions each household expels over a certain period of time Is there a correlation between carbon footprint and size of industrial sector? Variables: Size of industrial sector (how many workers & quantity of production) and the quantity of carbon emissions from each sector. || Is there a correlation between weight of a skier and the speed at which they travel in a race? Variables: Weight of professional racers and timed results in same race Does ethnic background have an effect on population of skiers? Variables: population of skiers with a certain ethnic background Is there a correlation between the number of snowboarders and skiers in a certain area? Variables: Population of skiers and population of snowboarders ||
 * __ ​ Culminating Task Stage One:__**
 * **__Brainstorming__** || __**BRAINSTORMING**__ ||  ||
 * **DECA** || **The Environment** || **Downhill Skiing** ||
 * Is there a correlation between the test scores and oral scores of DECA students?

D.E.C.A =[The Distributive Educational Clubs of America ~ An Association of Marketing Students] = ​ __**Proposal:**__ [//Background Information//] D.E.C.A., previously the "Distributive Educational Clubs of America" and currently "An Association of Marketing Students", is a club in which students from across the U.S.A, Canada and various other regions compete in the completion of category specific examinations and in solving business case studies either individually or in a team of two. DECA began over 60 years ago and currently has over 185,000 student members in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico, Germany and Mexico. Students compete in both High School and College/University.

I chose DECA as my subject of study because I have been a competitor in DECA since Grade Nine. I have competed and placed at many competitions including a 3rd and 6th place finish at Provincials and a top ten placing at Internationals in Atlanta Georgia (2008). I was also elected as a student delegate on the DECA Ontario Student Executive but had to turn down the offer due to student council obligations. I wish to compete in more DECA international events in the near future.

I will be analyzing the results of the 2009/2008 High School Provincial competitions to conclude whether there is a correlation between the results of test scores and those of oral case study scores.

The **oral events** consist of a business case study outlining a specific problem that the participant must solve. The participant is given a role to play and is to present his or her solution in role play format to a judge who will mark the presentation based on a series of given performance indicators. The participants in the individual events are given ten minutes to read the case and create a presentation. In the ten minutes that follow, the competitors present their solution to a judge. All participants in a given category (44 in total) are given the same case study. In the **team decision making events** participants are in pairs and are given fifteen minutes to create a solution to present to the judge.
 * Written tests** are mandatory for all individual and team decision making events. The tests consist of either category specific (ie Food Marketing) or general marketing questions in the form of multiple choice. There are 100 questions and participants are given a maximum of 75 minutes to complete them. With team events the average of the test scores (of both participants) are used in the scoring process.
 * Written events** are either completed individually or in groups of up to three (depending on the event). Competitors are given the task of creating a proposal paper varying in lengths (normally of either 11 or 30 pages) as well as a 15 minute presentation. The participants are given the requirements for the task months before the competition date. Competitors are scored on the quality of their assignment and their presentation. Some also must complete a general marketing written test.

The data being studied is the results (DECA Ontario Students Only) of the February 2009, February 2008 provincial competitions as well as the April 2008 International Competition. All data is from the High School Level of DECA. Variables: I believe that the DECA Ontario provincial and international Individual competitors (in 2008-2009), who have high marks on the written tests will also have high scores on their oral events. I also believe that the DECA Ontario provincial team event competitors' (2008-2009) marks will not correlate (or weak positive or weak negative) because the test scores are dependent on both competitors. One partner may be well practiced in multiple choice while the other is not. The partners may work well together, but individually they may lack confidence and knowledge.
 * Question**: //Is there any correlation between the test scores and oral scores of Ontario DECA competitors?//
 * Multiple choice test scores (dependent [//y//])
 * Oral Case Study Scores (independent [//x//])
 * Hypothesis**:


 * __Culminating Task Part II__ :

Sampling Techniques:** The sampling technique for this data is difficult to identify because it is a competition where all competitors are given a specific place and time to compete. Many tests and presentations occur at the same time. If I was to classify this data in terms of the sampling technique used to obtain the information I would first conclude that it falls under the category of a //**systematic sample**//. My reasoning is that with a systematic sample, the data is collected from the entire population sequentially by selecting members at regular intervals, and at DECA competitions, all participants (with a population of around five thousand) are given the time and location for their competitive events. Thus, the entire population is reached. On the other hand, I would also classify this sampling technique as a **//voluntary response sample//**. I believe that this technique applies because participation is at the discretion or initiative of the competitor. In some cases, the participants do not show up for their scheduled events due to either forgetfulness or the lack of initiative. This fact can be seen through the various competitors who have marks of either 0 or 1 for their competitive event scores.

//Non-response Bias://** I believe that there is a non response bias in the data being used for this study. Due to the classification of "voluntary response sample" there is a possibility that the accuracy of the correlation could be seriously compromised due to the lack of participation. It can be noted that there were competitors in almost every category (Provincials 2009 spreadsheet) who did nor participate and in turn, received a score of zero. There are also those who competed in their oral event but not their written test making their data bias. __**Solution:**__ Only the students with complete test and oral scores will be utilized in the study.
 * Bias:

//**Measurement (Systematic) Bias:**// It could be concluded that the International competition spreadsheet has a measurement bias because the data consistently over or underestimates the scores of the competitors. Since the actual scores of the competitors were not given, just whether they qualified or placed, means that it is impossible to use real numerical data to compare the actual scores. We don't know whether the student placed fourth or tenth in the rankings. __**Solution:**__ This data will be analyzed using a different format of graph.

**Data Analysis:** The analysis will occur in the following format I will be constructing graphs according to the following variables. The region is Toronto Ontario for the provincial competitions (February 2009, February 2008) and the region is Atlanta Georgia USA for the international competition (April 2008)
 * 1) Elimination of biased results
 * 2) Categorization of reliable results
 * 3) Implementation of results onto appropriate graph (scatter plot for two variable data and bar graph or histogram for one variable data)
 * 4) Creation of a line of best fit and correlation coefficient
 * 5) Conclusion and Applications of results

//__A: Provincial Competition: Individual Events__// Average Oral Score (two given) [independent] Test score [dependent] First Oral Score [independent] Test Score [dependent] Second Oral Score [independent] Test Score [dependent] [2008] r=0.3626 (Moderate Positive)** First Oral Score [independent] Second Oral Score [dependent] [2008] r=0.3799 (Moderate Positive)**
 * [2009] r=0.3662 (Moderate Positive)**
 * [2008] r=0.4030 (Moderate Positive)**
 * [2009] r=0.3254 (Weak Positive)**
 * [2008] r=0.3169 (Weak Positive)**
 * [2009] r=0.2759 (Weak Positive)
 * [2009] r=0.3565 (Moderate Positive)

__//B:Provincial Competition: Team Decision Making Events//__

Oral Score (One given) [independent] Average Test Score (average of the two partners) [dependent] [2008] r=0.3305 (Moderate Positive)**
 * [2009] r=0.3239 (Weak Positive)

//__C:Provincial Competition: All Events (team & individual events)__//

(Average) Oral Score [independent] (Average) Test Score [dependent] [2008] r=0.3658 (Moderate Positive)**
 * [2009] r=0.3339 (Moderate Positive)

__//D:International Competition: All Events//__

[Bar Graph ](one variable data) Number of students [dependent] [independent] below. Number of students qualifying for oral score Number of students qualifying for test score Number of students placing top ten for overall score

[Bar Graph] Number of Students [dependent] School Board of Student Origin [independent] From above: __A:__ The Individual events results from both years illustrate a relatively equal correlation coefficient located on or around the dividing line between moderate and weak positive correlation. It is interesting to note that the average scores create a stronger correlation than those of the individual oral scores. Also the correlation between both oral events is moderate and positive (stronger than other coefficients). One would expect it to be much higher. One would assume that the If a competitor is a strong presenter they would succeed in both oral events, not just one. It can be said that these results prove my hypothesis incorrect because I expected a strong positive correlation where a weak positive one occurred. __B:__ I hypothesized that there would be a weak or nonexistent correlation between the scores of Team Event competitors. These results prove my hypothesis correct. However the reasoning for the weak correlation is unknown. My suggested reasoning, stated in the hypothesis may or may not have caused this relationship. When one compares with the individual scores however, the correlation strengths are fairly close in value. Thus my reasoning for the weak relationship may prove false. __C:__ Once again my hypothesis was proven false by the "all events" category of data. Although there is a relatively stronger correlation than those of the respective events separately, the correlation strength is no where near what I thought it would be. It is interesting to note in all of these graphs the points that may be considered to be outliers skewing the data. I eliminated all of the points that were vast outliers. All the scores with a value of 1 or 0 for any part of the competition were eliminated. I believe it is important however, to include these other points of real values no matter where they fall. I believe it is the only way to effectively represent the data. D: From the international competition, the graphs clearly illustrate that you (as a DECA Ontario competitor) have an approximate 36 percent chance to receive a medal written test if you have received a medal for one or more of the oral events. This data describes a moderate positive correlation. In further exploring the data, we see that most international DECA Ontario competitors come from the PEEL district school board and the most successful students come from the limestone schoolboard.
 * __Conclusions__**

__**Raw Data for Proposal**__

Works Cited Plagianakos, O. (2008, May). //2008 International DECA Conference Ontario Rankings //. Retrieved May, 2008, from [|www.deca.ca] Plagianakos, O. (2009, February). //2009 DECA Provincials //. Retrieved February 25, 2009, from [|www.deca.ca] Plagianakos, O. (2008, February). //2008 DECA Provincials //. Retrieved February 20, 2008, from [|www.deca.ca] Plagianakos, O. (2007, February). //2007 DECA Provincials //. Retrieved February 15, 2007, from [|www.deca.ca] Plagianakos, O. (2007, February). // DECA International Distribution //. Retrieved February 15, 2007, from www.deca.org