Blog Assignment #3 - The Shoe/Hair/Height correlation project.

Reading Scatter Plots and Understanding Correlations.

In a comment to this post, please discuss each of the graphs below. Be sure to address the questions under each graph. Please don't copy the questions or number your answers, rather, you should write a paragraph or two in complete sentences so your reader knows what you are talking about. Be sure to sign in as "anonymous" but put your first name and last initial in the post so I know to whom to give the credit. If you have any questions please e-mail me. Review the "how to e-mail a teacher" post on my blog before you send your e-mail.(click on the graphs to enlarge)

I strongly suggest you write the comment in Word or another program and then copy and paste it into the comment section below. This way, if the comment doesn't go through or is accidentally deleted you'll have a record of your work. Please also remember that I have to approve all comments, so it may take a while for it to show up on the blog. You don't need to resubmit it over and over. 

What can we see from the above scatter plot of hair length vs. height? Is there a correlation? How strong is it? If so, is it positive or negative; strong or weak? What information about the students in our class does this graph give you? Are there a few "outliers" or extreme data points that seem unusual? If you throw them out of the data set what does the correlation look like? What other information would be helpful to interpret the data?

Above is the data we collected about our shoe sizes vs our heights. Can you see a relationship? Is there a correlation? If so, is it positive or negative? How strong is it? What about the person who is 160cm tall and has a foot that is 9cm long? Look at a ruler to see what 9cm looks like and explain what you think happened to cause that outlier. Does shoe size cause height to change? Does height cause shoe size to change? Does correlation imply causality - explain why or why not. 

What Motivated Mike - Blog Comment due 3/21

Here is a great Nike spot with Michael Jordan talking about how failure has helped him to succeed. Thanks for reminding me of this one, Mr. Niebuhr.




If the above play button does not appear or work you can try the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GuXZFQKKF7A

If the video won't play, here is the quote that Michael Jordan states during the commercial. Base your answer on this quote.

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

-- Michael Jordan

What do you think motivated Michael Jordan become the greatest basketball player of his era and one of the greatest in the history of the game?

Answer in a short blog comment to this post and sign it with ONLY your first name and last initial. To get full credit you must correctly refer to at least one psych concept from the book or from class notes. Click on the word "comments" below and you can sign in as anonymous. Your comment won't appear on the blog until I approve it, so check back to make sure it's approved. Once I approve it I'll enter your grade in Gradebook within a day or two.