Rubric for Semester Project

Assessment will be based on the presentation and the final report. Your group itself, your class peers, and your professor will all provide feedback on the success of the project.

Assessment Criteria

The grading rubric tries to lay out the main aspects of the project inluding the analysis parts and the communication parts. Please ask if you have any questions.

Final Report

Introduction

The introduction should include:

  • Brief background (Has an explanation been given for why the research was done? Why is the work important? What is its relevance?)
  • Objective or Research question (Is the brief description of the hypothesis/goals and findings of the paper clearly stated for the reader?)

Methods

Methods should include description of:

  • Study design (enough info for someone to replicate)
  • Sampling method and eligibility criteria
  • Treatment (i.e., explanatory variable)
  • Outcome definition(s) (i.e., response variable)
  • Sample size justification
  • Statistical methods which were applied

Results

Results should communicate / describe / summarize:

  • Baseline data (including numbers analyzed – explain the explanatory variables, summarize the explanatory variables, plot the explanatory variables, etc.)
  • Outcomes (explain the response variable, summarize the response variable, plot the response variable). Is your treatment liable to do harm? Are you worried about type I vs type II errors when considering the outcome?
  • Each model is completely described
  • Each figure / table is completely described
  • Connections between analyses; e.g., between figures and model results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion (i.e., answer to the research question), interpretation
  • Limitations
  • Ideas for future studies

Coverage, Clarity

Full analysis should be clear, concise, well-organized, reproducible, and engaging:

  • Dataset is complete, available, tidy (rows are observations, columns are variables, no exceptions)
  • All information was provided
  • Presentation was organized
  • Presentation was clear, understandable
  • Tables and figures were used well (axes labeled, etc.)
  • Work is completely reproducible (the instructor must be able to run the .Rmd file on their own computer)

Peer/self rubric

Each of you will evaluate your own work and that of your peers keeping the following topics in mind.

  • Mastery of the material (understanding of the material is strong and well communicated)
  • Background, completeness (thoroughly explains all key points)
  • Presentation evaluation (organized, communicates effectively with the audience)