Amidst this global pandemic, there were a lot of drastic changes that had to be done. The course outlines included. Since COVID-19 was introduced to the world and was claimed to be a global threat, we students were encouraged to follow lectures virtually. Thus, the complications some students may face. I was not excluded as I found it hard to keep up with the course itself without the help of my peers that have been a great help throughout my studies. So, when the decision to cancel the final examination for this course and replace it with another individual project, I had mixed feelings myself. However, I managed to overcome it by gathering my courage to ask questions to acquaintances that may have much more knowledge regarding this particular course. I had also begun to feel more independent now that i have made so much research myself as well as revising the syllabus. The dataset I ended up choosing which is about beef demand in the United States was not my initial choice. I had another dataset in mind and the beef demand dataset was just a backup plan. However, there was a bit of a problem with the proposal I sent to the lecturer. The lecturer commented on how the variables had no obvious relationship. Thus, there might not be much to talk about. For further understanding, i consulted with the lecturer about it and gradually realised my mistakes. It was indeed a bit difficult since we have not yet cover the later chapters. So, preparing a proposal without that much of an understanding was rough. However, i managed to reflect back on what my mistakes were and start revising more to get a better understanding.
Throughout the completion of this project, i had to do a lot of research regarding inferential statistical analysis. I also had to practice and play around with the Rstudio before actually proceeding with the coding. I have come to realise that Rstudio is very useful especially for variables with a vast number of observations. There were a lot of YouTube videos i had to watch in order to finally get a grip of how to finally code as i admit i am a slow learner myself. Besides that, i also learned the difference between correlation and regression. It was a bit confusing at the beginning but as i went through a lot of examples and exercises, i have finally acknowledged the distinct differences between the two. This project not only helps me understand the chapters better, but it also help me gain extra information along the way that could probably be in great use for the future.
In terms of skills, i had enhanced my programming skill by watching a lot of examples and videos. Moreover, i became more confident and brave in admitting my mistakes as well as asking questions for my own better understanding. I am a timid and shy person which would always depend on my own research or friends for information. However, it has finally come to me that asking the lecturers themselves would definitely ease my work since they give direct explanation on what i am doing wrong. Last but not least, i have become more independent as mentioned before. Though i always do my own research, i feel the need to put an extra effort in doing my work since there won't be friends that can back me up when i do my work.
Overall, this project has helped me in many different ways. Most of all, it made me own up to my own mistakes due to my lack of effort. If I were to ignore the mistakes, i would not have learned this much.