Summary Notes

The data set and its analysis

All data provided in this project are given exactly as recorded by the expedition team.

One of the unique aspects of this project is that students are given "real" data. Unlike most textbook exercises where "semi-perfect" data are used, this project requires students to work with real data, taken by real scientists, usually working under very harsh conditions.

Part of the exercise is to analyze the data exactly as given and to avoid the temptation to "guess" the final outcome.

Unlike traditional textbook assignments, there are no right or wrong answers here. One simply takes their results and then tries to interpret them in terms of the process being studied by asking the following questions.

  1. Are the results as I expected?
  2. Do the results differ from the results made by others using the same, or different, methods of measurement?
  3. Can I account for (explain) any unusual features that show up in the analyzed data?
  4. What conclusions can I draw from my results?
  5. Can my conclusions be tested?
  6. How might the experiment be improved?

Notice that the process above bears a striking resemblance to the scientific method.

Namely:

  1. What do we expect or predict (from our experiment)?
  2. Perform the experiment and make careful observations.
  3. Are your observations consistent with your predictions?
  4. What can you conclude from your experiment?
  5. Expand or modify your hypothesis (if required) and make a further prediction.
  6. Design and perform an experiment to test your hypothesis. (Go to step 1.)

Collecting the data

The ultra-violet observations collected during this expedition constitute an extremely valuable set of scientific data.

The cost of the expedition is quite high, even for the short duration of this expedition. The difficulties in making accurate scientific observations in such a hostile environment cannot be over-stated. Most of the photos were taken during times of relatively benign weather conditions. To get a better idea of the weather check the daily weather data included with this project.

Because the data was collected by a team of scientists who were sometimes extremely cold, hungry, and fatigued data errors may (or may not) have entered that data set. No attempt has been made to alter the data in any way whatsoever!

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