Steps in a statistical project

This chapter puts all the earlier tools to work in a small statistical project. A project follows clear steps:

• 1. Identify the problem or area of study, and state the objective clearly. Everything else follows from this.
• 2. Choose the target group: the people whose answers you need. It depends on the topic. A study of cars would target mainly middle and higher income groups; a study of soap, all consumers; a study of drinking water, both rural and urban people. A study of female literacy would target women and girls.
• 3. Collect the data. Primary data come from your own questionnaire or interviews. For a postal survey, the questionnaire must carry a covering letter explaining the purpose. Secondary data are used when time, money and manpower are short. Take care over sampling, so that your sample represents the target group.
• 4. Organise and present the data: in tables, and in bar and pie diagrams.
• 5. Analyse the data, using averages, measures of dispersion (spread) and correlation.
• 6. Draw conclusions, and make suggestions based on them.
• 7. Bibliography: list the secondary sources (books, reports, websites) that you used.

A good project is like a good journey: decide clearly where you want to go before you set out.