Instructions for home assignments - Biostats Course VHM 801 at AVC

Some frequently asked questions:

• Where can I find the home assignment and the data?
  Both the home assignment and any data for it are found via links at the homepage.
• How much of the course mark does the home assignment account for?
  This is listed on the homepage and directly on the assignment.
• When is the home assignment due?
  Usually, home assignments are due within one week; the specific due date can be found on the homepage. Unless noted otherwise, there is no specific due time on the due date.
• What are the requirements with regard to format?
  You should preferably hand in a paper version, with your name and your student id. The text may be printed or handwritten as you prefer. See below for handing in an electronic version (if handing in a paper version is inconvenient or impossible).
• Where should I hand in the home assignment?
  A paper version of the home assignment should be handed directly to the course instructor, or be put in the mailbox (at AVC 3 North) or under the office door if the instructor is not available. Electronic submission of the home assignment should use your Moodle account for VHM 801.
• Is collaboration allowed?
  Collaboration is not allowed. Discussion is allowed, but every student must carry out all calculations on their own and must hand in a personal version with the relevant explanations and interpretations (and those versions should not be virtually identical for two or more students).
• Is it allowed to get assistance from another person (in or outside the course) or an AI tool (such as ChatGPT)?
  Any assistance from another person (or tool) is limited to discussion, as explained above. It is not allowed to let another person "correct" your assignment before you hand it in. Nor is it acceptable to transcribe answers from an AI tool into your assignment.
• Can I use any resource of information (e.g. found on the Internet) to assist me in answering the questions?
  Yes, but be aware of the requirement (as part of the principles of Academic Honesty) to properly reference your sources. Sources of information implicit in the course (e.g. the course material, the textbooks or the PSLS website) do not need to be referenced. Any sources of information that are specific to the problem/assignment at hand should be referenced. Also, larger segments of text included in your solution that originate from an external source should be given as a quote, with a proper reference. If you use an AI tool to assist your writing, indicate this explicitly by a suitable statement.
• Is it serious to violate the rules for collaboration, assistance and referencing of source material? ?
  That depends on the circumstances of the violation. Severe violations will be dealt with according to the Graduate Program Regulations on Academic Dishonesty, as described in the Academic Calendar.

Some hints about the format and contents:

• Make sure that you demonstrate clearly how you arrived at your results. This applies both to calculations done by hand and by computer (for the latter, you may show Minitab listings from the session window or Stata do-files).
• Don't forget the conclusions - they are the most important part of any analysis.
• Usually, computer program listings are put in an appendix, but you may put selected output (tables and graphs) in the main text. Note that the report should never be a mere collection of annotated computer listings.
• Organize the text properly, by consecutive page numbering and by numbering of items in an appendix.
• The expected length of reports vary (of course), but they would hardly ever be expected to exceed 5 pages of text (not counting computer outputs).

Help resources:

• Questions to clarify the assignment's meaning or of general type (e.g. how to do something in Minitab/Stata or explanation of methods) may be addressed to the course instructor, preferably using the Discussion Forum at the course Moodle account.
• The solutions to lab exercises and previous years' home assignments.
• The textbooks, and any other reference material you want to use (but give reference(s) if you rely on specific other sources).