ummary of project:
You will be an analyst and obtain data (your choice) and provide a descriiption of the data, along with a chart or
graph. Your final project should reflect a project you are sending to your boss or presenting in a meeting.

Compile data:
The data set you will use for this project is your choice. This is an opportunity for you to research something
that interests you.
You must cite your data source. Use a workable size data set. You may need to take a snapshot of your data
for this class as you will want to use between 30 and 50 data points in your analysis.
Format of the project:
This will be in memo form. Once you are completed with your memo, have someone proofread it to catch
misspelled words or grammatical errors. It is a good habit to find a proofreader of all your work.
The idea behind the memo is to discuss what you are seeing with your dataset. There is no need to reference
a saying from another article, unless deemed necessary to support your overall purpose.
The memo should follow in a logical form – discuss the overall purpose, use the data descriiption and chart to
help support your overall purpose. Your conclusion should tie it all together – discussing what the data is
saying with respect to the overall purpose. Your proofreader should be able to understand what message you
are trying to convey.
You will turn in the memo (in Word) and the Excel spreadsheet with your supporting work. The Excel
spreadsheet should be well-labeled to make an easy reference. It is mandatory to turn in the Excel
spreadsheet.
Form of the memo and required elements:
1. Introduction:
To:
From:
Date:
Subject:
2. General: One paragraph about the overall purpose of the analysis
3. Methodology:
a. Data Descriiption – provide at least one paragraph describing your data. Note where the data
originated, how it was compiled, and the age of the data. Also point out 1-2 statistics (mean,
median, standard deviation, etc..) that seem to describe the data the best.
b. Chart – that helps describe your data set. (You can insert the chart in the Word document or
reference a chart in an Excel spreadsheet). Provide a chart that describes the data.
(scatterplot, line graph, etc.) to add insight. The chart should be created using your data.
Charts from websites will not be accepted.
c. Comment on any trends, if any, that you see in the chart along with the descriiptive statistics.
4. Conclusion – (one paragraph) Discuss what the data is saying with respect to the overall purpose.
Must tie together all points made in the body of the memo.

ALL PROJECTS WILL BE RUN THROUGH A PLAGIARISM TRACKER. IF PLAGIARISM IS DETECTED,
YOU WILL RECEIVE A 0 WITH NO OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE UP THE GRADE.
There are many resources of data on the web. Make sure it is a reliable resource, so you are not downloading
a virus. If needed, you can input the data by hand into Excel if you are unsure of the source. A few are listed
below.
1. data.gov – data sets on imports/aquaculture/USDA/EPA/education/employment/finance/business
2. wunderground.com or noaa.gov – weather data
3. stat.ufl.edu/~winner/datasets.html (may need to input data by hand)
4. census.gov
5. stock prices websites
6. your choice