Assignment 2: Melissa’s Data and Findings

After computing measures of central tendency and variation for my hourly body temperature readings, here are my findings:

Using my calculator- Mean= 97.83  Median= 97.8  Mode= 97.7                                   Standard Deviation= 0.81   Variance= 0.66

Using SPSS- Mean=97.83   Median=97.8   Mode= 97.7   Standard Deviation=0.83   Variance= 0.68

*I used my calculator and SPSS version 15.0 to collect my data

Melissa’s Hourly Body Temperature

After recording my temperature every two hours for five consecutive days, here are my findings!

Dave’s Graph

Here is my graph with my data

Research findings.

Hey Melissa, I found this on the web.

 

The contracting and dilating of blood carrying capillaries is one of the main causes as to why our temperature increases and decreases. When a person works out the capillaries dilate allowing more blood flow to the skin to reduce excess heat. When a person becomes too cold the capillaries reduce in size so that no too much energy will escape from the system. Hormone levels can also fluctuate body temperature. A women’s basil body temperature is a good indicator of if she is pregnant or not. It has also been found that women have a higher body cavity temperature reading.

 

(http://scienceline.org/2008/01/02/ask-jiang-bodytemperature/)

Body Temp Post Lab Findings: Relating lab to Randomness

This lab related to the topic of randomness because multiple outside factors effected our body temperature. While it was possible to hypothesize what some of these outside factors were, in no way was it possible to determine them all, so we could not make any strong predictions. There was a percievable frequency distribution of body temperature readings, as we found temeperatures to be lower in the morning, and higher in the afternoon. While this pattern did exist, there were substantial deviations from the mean temperature. All in all, the effects of randomness on our hourly body temperatures made it difficult to obtain a reliable reading or to predict future readings.

Body Temp Post Lab Findings: Strengths & Weaknesses

Flaws in the the experimental design include the possible variation in time intervals between temperature readings. Ideally, the participants should have taken their temperature at the same time everyday. In addition, varying weather patterns might have effected temperature readings, as there were days of warmth and days of cold. Also, the diet maintained by the participant varied from day to day, which could have caused temperature fluctuations. Sleep cycle irregularities could also have impacted body temperature. Hormonal levels within the body might have caused temperature readings to vary.

A possible strength of our collected data was that it followed the typical temperature cycle where the lowest readings were generally seen in the morning and the highest temperature readings seen in the afternoon. In addition, tracking hourly body temperatures for a period of 5 days, instead of 2 or 3, allowed us to observe patterns and reflect on random events (e.g., weather) that could have effected our data.

Body temp lab questions

1. A random event is one in which all of the effecting variables cannot be perceived by the observer, and thus seem to happen without connecting causation. A systematic event is one in which there are clear cause and effect relationships which tend to follow a highly predictable pattern. This could mean that there are a lower amount of effecting variables for the event.

2. It would not be possible to predict exact future outcomes of events, such as temperature or weather changes because we cannot perceive every sub-event that has a causal relationship with the main event. It is possible to narrow the predicted outcomes by looking at past patterns of occurances and creating estimates.

3. Certain specific systematic patterns did seem to occur in our data. The first tempeterature readings on average are lower and temperature readings are higher in the afternoon after a mid-day meal. These systematic patterns occured on multiple days, ruling out the possibility that they were random. For instance, Melissa found that her temperature reached 99.0 degrees farenheit within the 12-2pm interval after eating lunch on both 1/18 and 1/20. In addition, she found that her temperature was highest (98.5 degrees) after eating dinner on 1/19 and 1/21. This might have to due with an increased metabolism after eating which naturally raises body temperature.

        4. Sources of randomness that effect our lives are abundant and commonly occuring. For example weather pattern changes might effect your plans for the weekend, and sudden traffic congestion might change the route you take home from work. When a newborn baby is convieved, there is a 50/50 chance of that baby being a boy or a girl, with each outcome severely affecting the life of that child. In the classroom, there might be an unexpected pop quiz, which might make or break a grade. Sudden illness might impact a person’s ability to function. Meeting people with whom you will form lasting relationships with is a random event that can happen everyday. Finally, relying on services that are provided by other people, such as the quality of service at a restaurant provides, is a highly random situation as well.

*Sources and references for our data and question answers include our digital thermometers and lecture notes from Dr. MacEwen’s 261 class.

Hourly Body Temp

yeyeyeyeye

Hello world!

Hel lab partner, I just wanted to give you my contact info
Name: David Whitman
Cell Number: 203-257-9484
E-mail: dwhit3yy@umw.edu
AIM: The Whitmanizer