How to Present Statistical Data

[J132456]

<Moderator's note: Moved from a homework forum.>

Mass (g) +/- 0.01 grams Drop height (centimeters) +/- 3.00 Shell
53.47 45 No crack
56.78 45 Cracked
59.33 35 No crack
52.96 35 No crack
55.33 40 No crack
58.44 40 Cracked

My question is on how I should go about representing the value of an egg's maximum height before it cracks. I have 5 data tables like the one below. I need to show a point for which an egg is at its highest point without cracking. I was hoping you would know of a solution to my conundrum. I saw that 70% of the eggs broke at the top of the range (this being 5 centimeters above the central value). 20% of the eggs broke at and 5 centimeters below the middle value. I got the percentages from all five of my trials, which meant that ten eggs were dropped from each value range (Middle, Maximum or 5 cm above middle, and minimum 5 centimeters below middle). I was hoping you could shed some light on the situation.

If you need the other data tables, I can send them

Again, I'm looking for the best way to represent the possible value for the maximum height an egg can be dropped without breaking

 

[J132456]

The middle values from 45-35, represent heights in centimeters (the table got shifted).

 

[jim mcnamara]

This is an interesting question. I think it will help if you can share all of your data. Can we explicitly assume that the treatments were all identical? Eggs do vary in mass. Which is expected. You varied the height of the drop only, such that the same end of each dropped egg was identical. You can use code html tags to get your table columns to line up just the way you typed them. Very simple:
[ code=text ]
your data here
your data here
[ /code ] (I put spaces inside the brackets to turn off the function code tags, you should use them with no spaces inside the brackets so it works)
Have you had a statistics module yet?
<mentor note: edited thread title to be more specific, per PF guidelines>

 

[J132456]

Sure thing,

No layers of bubble wrap
52.67 10 cracked
59.76 10 cracked
54.46 5 No crack
53.21 5 No crack
56.89 10 Cracked
56.47 5 No crack1 layer
56.67 15 No crack
52.27 15 Crack
59.81 10 No crack
53.32 10 No crack
55.54 5 No crack
52.30 5 No crack

2 layers
54.22 35 No Crack
53.25 35 No crack
57.88 30 Crack
56.09 30 Crack
54.78 25 No crack
59.80 25 No crack3 layers
53.47 45 No crack
56.78 45 Cracked
59.33 35 No crack
52.96 35 No crack
55.33 40 No crack
58.44 40 Cracked

4 layers
54.92 1.80 Crack
57.83 1.80 Crack
55.58 1.75 No Crack
54.73 1.75 No Crack
58.92 1.70 No Crack
53.37 1.70 Cracked

I made a chute designed to hold the egg in position (just a roll with holes). and the layers of bubble wrap were also measure in thickness but they were so thin, it doesn't play into what I'm trying to do with the graph. The first problem is that in trial one the egg was so far down, it would be touching the ground if I lowered its minimum height. That's why I repeated the maximum height and middle height, or should I say that the egg wouldn't break from minimum which would have been a height of zero meters from the ground?

As for a statistics module, no, I only know basic statistics stuff like standard deviation and variance etc... but I don't know that stuff really well

Thank you so much for your reply and your willingness to help me with this conundrum.

 

[J132456]

I must have done that HTML thing wrong

 

[J132456]

Let me add that the conditions, from brand, to temperature, to position, were all kept the same. A nail was pushed through a hole in a carboard roll chute, the egg was slowly lowered into it and then it dropped down to hit the floor once the nail was pulled out. All impacts were at the bottom of the egg.

 

[Dale]

Again, I'm looking for the best way to represent the possible value for the maximum height an egg can be dropped without breaking

There is no such height. Due to random effects (variation in egg shell thickness, variations in the fall, etc) there is no point at which all eggs dropped from that height will be unbroken and all eggs dropped from a greater height will be broken. The best that you can do is find the height at which 50% (or some other fraction) of the eggs will break. This is a task for logistic regression.

 

[J132456]

I'm trying that right now.
Thank you