Relationship between Number of Enrollees and Number of Graduates of US Term Paper

Relationship between Number of Enrollees and Number of Graduates of US Medical Schools - Term Paper Example Using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis, it was found that there is a low positive relationship between number of first year enrollees and the number of graduates from medical schools four years later. Thus, although higher graduates are produced by schools with higher first year enrollees, this may not be a crucial factor and other affecting elements may have to be considered. Table of Contents Page Number Abstract 2 Introduction 4 Presentation and Discussion of Results 5 Conclusion 19 Critique 21 Bibliography 22 Introduction There are a number of factors that influence the volume of graduates from medical schools in the US. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reports that for the past decade, there has been a fluctuation in the number of applicants to US medical schools (AAMC Website). However, the number of enrollees and the number of graduates have both seen a constant rate over the past years. This study is interested in finding out if t here is a significant relationship between the number of enrollees in US medical schools with the number of graduates four years later. That is, the research asks the following question: RQ: Is there a significant relationship between the number of enrollees in US medical schools with the number of graduates four years later? To correspond with this research question, this investigation has the following hypotheses: Ho: There is no relationship between the number of enrollees in US medical schools with the number of graduates four years later (r = 0). Ha: There is a significant and positive relationship between the number of enrollees in US medical schools with the number of graduates four years later (r > 0). The independent variable for this study is â€Å"Number of enrollees,† corresponding to the number of first year enrollees in each medical school for the year 2006. The dependent variable for this study is â€Å"Number of graduates,† corresponding to the number o f students who graduated four years later from the same schools, or those labeled as â€Å"Class of 2010.† This topic is of particular interest to me because I have always wondered about the performance of medical school programs in terms of how many people make it past the MCATS and how many actually graduate the university. I personally have the desire to attend medical school and eventually become a doctor. As such, this research will make an impact in my decision to pursue Medicine. I am an ambitious girl, but I do know that ambition is not the only way to get through medical school. Rather, one needs courage as well. This research will determine at the end of the day if I will have the courage to try out this field or to close the doors to medical school behind me. Presentation and Discussion of Results In order to answer the research question, descriptive statistics was first taken from the data in order to have a picture of how the data behave. Then, a scatter plot of number of graduates against number of enrollees was produced to find if there is an existing relationship between the two variables. Finally, the data were subjected to regression analysis in order to find out if Number of Enrollees is a significant predictor of Number of Graduates. The regression analysis conducted also produced the coefficients for the desired regression equation. Table 1. Presentation of Raw Data By Alphabetical Order 30 Selected Medical Schools First Yr Enrollment (2006) vs. Graduates (2010) Name of School First Yr Enrollment (2006) Graduates (Class of 2010) Boston University School of Medicine 179 153 Brown Medical School 91 79 Drexel University College of Medicine 255 233 Florida State University Colleg