Week 1 · Suggested 60–90 minutes · First-pass draft
An empirical question you can actually answer
Choose a consequential empirical claim and translate it into a study that could generate evidence, not merely a questionnaire that confirms what you already believe.
Applied assignment, not a stored grade. Instructions and model checks are provided for self-study or instructor adaptation. Work is not transmitted to this site.
What you will do
- Write an answerable question, state the target population and observational unit, and define at least two measured variables.
- Propose either a probability sample or an intervention design. Explain how participants would be selected and, if relevant, randomly assigned.
- Identify one threat to measurement validity, one source of selection bias, and one ethical issue.
- Explain which result would count against your initial expectation, and how you would communicate uncertainty.
What to submit
A two-page study-design memo with a diagram of the sampling or assignment process and limitations.
Self-check before finishing
A reader can distinguish the sample from the population and random sampling from random assignment.
Assigned reading
Identify the population, variables, study design, and inferential limits.
Instructor discussion guidance
Reject unsupported claims that any random survey is a randomized experiment; ask who was missing from the sampling frame.
Print a predict–experiment–explain worksheet → · Open browser R →