Unispins for Statistics Project. (Need Your Help)

[sutton629]

Well I have to say thank you for looking and I need some help. For my final Project in my AP Statistics class I have to do a project in an area of interest to me. Of course I chose unicycling and now I must collect some data over a period of time and I need some help. I am going to be calculating the overall probablity of landing unispins. My project is not possible without your help. If over 25 days you will do 10 of each unispin you can do (ex. if you can do 5spins then 10 540 spins, 10 360spins, and 10 180 spins.) Record the number of spins that you land (ex. 01/14/08 180-8/10, 360-3/10) A log over 25 days is what I need in order to make this experiment work. You do not need to start right away but it will be a good way to help you learn your spins. This is not a judge of your riding so it helps if the data is honest because it is the long term numbers that help this project. I will be posting a log format up soon but it is simple enough to make your own. I am hoping to get several riders as to make this a successful project. Thank you for your time and I will keep you posted.

-Kevin

[ridingwithscissors]

hmmm... I don't know much about statistics, but as people have different abilities, wouldn't the results of this project tell you the general ability of the unicycling community instead of the "probability of landing unispins".

in other words, the probability of landing unispins is completely dependent on the ability of the rider (and the surface they are riding on, mood, weather, clothing, concentration etc)

this probably doesn't make any sense, but oh well

[peleschramm]

Originally Posted by ridingwithscissors

hmmm... I don't know much about statistics, but as people have different abilities, wouldn't the results of this project tell you the general ability of the unicycling community instead of the "probability of landing unispins".

in other words, the probability of landing unispins is completely dependent on the ability of the rider (and the surface they are riding on, mood, weather, clothing, concentration etc)

this probably doesn't make any sense, but oh well

agreed.

[phlegm]

Can I unispin for Jesus instead?

Originally Posted by ridingwithscissors

wouldn't the results of this project tell you the general ability of the unicycling community

Maybe not even that. Aren't people that actually can unispin more likely to participate? Before I could unispin, trying 2 or 3 times a day could be frustrating enough--often ending with awkward landings and/or slamming parts of my legs into parts of the unicycle.

Also, there needs to be a more precise definition of "landing" a unispin. Does that mean both feet are on just the pedals and/or cranks? Does that mean you can ride out of it? Does unispin have a formal definition already? (I'm too lazy to try to look it up.)

[semach.the.monkey]

Originally Posted by phlegm

Maybe not even that. Aren't people that actually can unispin more likely to participate?

yeah, it's certainly biased that way. I would participate but 25 rows of 10 zeroes probably isn't going to help him get the stats he wants. (but if it is, then i'm happy for my data to be used!)

STM

[zfreak220]

I think it would be a better statistic project if you did the public's responses to unicycling.

just go out to a mall or someplace crowded and start unicycling. See how many negative responses you get compared to positive responses compared to neutral responses. then do it based on percieved age and sex.

some british guy did a study like this over a couple years.

link

[saskatchewanian]

You can apply statistics to this but your results will be so variable that your Chi^2 (or whatever test you use) value will be much higher than your critical value making the information sort of useless. Adding an some more constraints to who participates might help. How about people who have previously never successfully landed a unispin. I am sure there are many people in that group that just need some sort of incentive to go out and do it.

By narrowing your search you may limit your results but you are more likely to get a meaningful statistic, and give people a reason to learn a new skill.

I have never attempted a unispin before but I might give it a try in the name of science.

[sutton629]

Haha thanks but the information that I am trying to gather is about the long term probabilities. I will have to do many things for my project and it is all about the long term numbers but is rather complicated to explain. The skill level is also a factor that I will work with as I look at all the data.

I also like the idea of recording the reactions. So for those not interested in doing unispins and you ride then information about peoples responses will also be fun information to calculate. If you ride regularly please keep a log of the positive and negative responses that you receive. Positive meaning a nice comment, smile, or a jolt of a friend and a pointing. Negative being dumb comments or ignoring. A well organized log over about 25 rides would help very much. Please also post the region that you are from.

Thank you for your well thought comments and I hope that several people will be able to pitch in and help or else this project will not be possible. I will not be able to present on Unicycling and will end up with a dull depressing project if I do not collect any data.

[banjo_gun_snake_wheels]

I'm not trying to be mean or rude, but have you talked to your teacher about your ideas for this project?
It seems like your procedure has a few flaws statistically speaking. I'm not sure how picky your teacher may be, but my stats professors would have probably said it was not a scientifically sound test.

[Rantz]

Originally Posted by sutton629

I also like the idea of recording the reactions.

Like this?

[mornish]

hmmm, so we only get 10 tries?

[sutton629]

my teacher was cool with the idea and liked it but the response is not so positive so i think that this thread should be locked and die out because the response is not so great. people would rather say that it is flawed then let me use the information for my class. I will probably have a simple online questionare up soon that I think should be a bit more friendly to those that are actually willing to help. I appreciate those that did try to help.

[Danni]

I got 7/10 180 unispins.

[ivan]

I'd be glad to help, but I also agree that the data you're collecting wouldn't give much meaningful information.

What exactly are you trying to test and what do you want to predict with it? Do you have a hypothesis?