Journal of Undergraduate Research

Thomas J. Leininger and Dr. C. Shane Reese, Statistics The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for testing and screening clinical drugs before market entry. The screening process involves different phases which determine a drug’s potency, recommended dosage, and potential side effects. Current statistical designs used to model the efficacy of a drug at varying […]

Todd R. Nelson and Dr. Scott Grimshaw, Statistics My project for the Research and Creative Activities Scholarship Award looks at the effectiveness and accuracy of a popular new method of variable selection. The method under investigation uses tree-based models to select important variables and then uses classical least squares estimation to fit a regression model […]

Scott Morris and Dr. Scott Grimshaw, Statistics Introduction The purpose of our project was to model a person’s life expectancy using lifetimes from their ancestry. Typical mortality models are based on data from large populations, and are not necessarily representative of a specific individual. Our primary objective was to model my personal life expectancy based […]

Patrick A. Turley Every mathematical model in the social sciences has its assumptions that may or may not be justified. These may be assumptions related to the behavior of the subjects of study (e.g. that people act in their best interests) or assumptions related to the model itself (e.g. that one variable will affect another […]

Kirk O. Monson and Dr. Bruce G. Schaalje, Statistics The kappa statistic is defined as the proportion of agreement between two instruments after chance agreement is removed from consideration (Cohen 1960). It is very useful when assessing the similarities of two instruments or procedures. Industries often use an automated system for testing their products to […]

Michelle Withers and Dr. W. Evan Johnson, Statistics The human body interacts at a cellular level through a series of events known as biological pathways. These pathways consist of communications at the molecular, cellular, and genetic levels to maintain a healthy, functional body. When the pathways are disrupted, new pathways are formed that can lead […]

Brent Shepherd and Dr. Evan Johnson, Statistics The emergence of high-throughput DNA sequencing within the past decade has redefined the world of molecular research. Mapping a human genome, a project that cost the United States government almost $3 billion and took 13 years to complete, is now speculated to soon be less than a week-long […]

Andrew Olsen and Dr. C. Shane Reese, Statistics Thousands of people die in automobile crashes each year. Departments of Transportation are working continuously to reduce the number of fatalities through highway safety projects. One of their critical tasks is to evaluate the efficacy of these projects. We have developed a Bayesian hierarchical Poisson regression model […]

Grant Hodgson and Dr. H. Dennis Tolley, Statistics In reverse mortgages, homeowners over the age of 62 take a loan out based on the equity of their home. While reverse mortgages can be beneficial for both the mortgager and mortgagee, there is also a great deal of risk involved because it is possible for the […]

Bradley Ferguson and Dr. C. Shane Reese, Statistics Detection of biological and chemical threats is an important consideration in the modern national defense policy. Much of the testing and evaluation of threat detection technologies is performed without appropriate uncertainty quantification. Under the guidance of Dr. Shane Reese, my ORCA project dealt with developing a more […]