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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1997  > August  >
In the Laboratory
A Laboratory Exercise in Statistical Analysis of Data
Mark F. Vitha and Peter W. Carr
Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, 207 Pleasant St. S. E., Minneapolis, MN 55455
Cover
August 1997
Vol. 74 No. 8
p. 998
Abstract
An undergraduate laboratory exercise in statistical analysis of data has been developed based on facile weighings of vitamin E pills. The use of electronic top-loading balances allows for very rapid data collection. Therefore, students obtain a sufficiently large number of replicates to provide statistically meaningful data sets. Through this exercise, students explore the effects of sample size and different types of sample averaging on the standard deviation of the average weight per pill. An emphasis is placed on the difference between the standard deviation of the mean and the standard deviation of the population. Students also perform the Q-test and t-test and are introduced to the X2-test. In this report, the class data from two consecutive offerings of the course are compared and reveal a statistically significant increase in the average weight per pill, presumably due to the absorption of water over time. Histograms of the class data are shown and used to illustrate the importance of plotting the data. Overall, through this brief laboratory exercise, students are exposed to many important statistical tests and concepts which are then used and further developed throughout the remainder of the course.
More Information
*  Citation
 Vitha, Mark F.; Carr, Peter W. J. Chem. Educ. 1997 74 998.
*  Keywords
 Analytical Chemistry, Quantitative Analysis, Laboratory Instruction
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 July 28, 1999
June 23, 2005
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