What This Document Is
This is a lab assignment, specifically a “Mission Memo for Data Analysis” intended for students enrolled in BIO 181 (General Biology I) at Arizona State University. It presents a real-world scenario – working for a pharmaceutical company testing a new cholesterol-lowering drug – and requires students to analyze provided data to determine which age group is more likely to have high cholesterol.
Why This Document Matters
This assignment is designed for students who need to practice applying data analysis skills, specifically using Microsoft Excel, to a biological problem. It’s used to assess a student’s ability to interpret data, formulate a claim, and support that claim with evidence. It’s part of a lab component of the course, likely contributing to a student’s overall grade.
Common Limitations or Challenges
This document provides the *context* for the data analysis, but it does not *perform* the analysis for you. Students will need prior knowledge of Excel and statistical concepts to successfully complete the assignment.
What This Document Provides
The full document includes: instructions for using Excel (with links to tutorial videos), background information on cholesterol and its health implications, a detailed scenario framing the data analysis task, two competing claims to investigate, and a question prompting selection of a figure illustrating a specific outcome. It also includes example data and a partial frequency table to guide students. This preview does *not* include the actual data sets, the figures referenced in Step 1, or the complete frequency table example.