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Blog Post 8: Tables and Graphs
Create a blog post discussing your table or graph. Did you have any difficulties organizing, aggregating or summarizing your data? Was the outcome as you expected? Did your data reveal anything unexpected or give you any ideas for further exploration?
I had some difficulty with aggregating my data. I changed my design methods throughout, as I discovered what wouldn’t work. I finally gathered enough data and made a scatter plot to investigate correlation. I then did a Pearsons correlation calculation and it showed a strong correlation value. As with most research though, it created more questions. My research review indicated that poison ivy preferred sun over shade. Most of the plants however were located in part shade. I justified this based on the correlation to fruit bearing plant locations. I had predicted that the seed eating birds that dispersed the fruit seeds, also dispersed the poison ivy seeds in the same area. The strange thing is that there is NO poison ivy at all, just across the trail, only a few paces and this area is full sun and so preferable to growth. It seems strange that birds wouldn’t have at least dispersed some seed on that side of the trail. I wonder if maybe there is another unknown variable stopping it from growing on that side. I think that next year, just for my own interest, I will check it out and see if the distribution is still the same.
