Readers and publishers are understandably fascinated with trying to figure out what makes certain novels popular and thus, more likely to be read and sold. This project is meant to figure out if there’s a correlation between the popularity of a book and the number of independently occurring words in it via examining the number of words that occur only once in “classics” which have been read and rated highly by users from multiple demographics.

Homicide in the United States has been trending downwards since at least 1990. 2014 had the lowest homicide rate in 51 years. However 2015 has had an increase in homicide rate by 10.8%. Why did this happen? This research project will attempt to answer that question by analyzing historical data and creating a model to determine what factors affect the homicide rate.

The study investigates how different college tier levels Palo Alto Unified School District alumni attended influenced their overall life trajectories. The data gathered through surveying high school graduates from 2004-2014 on variables including, colleges attended, gap year, majors selected, number of jobs held as well as their income level will be analyzed.

The aim of this research is to demonstrate both how disruptive innovations affect industries as well as how they have affected people’s daily lives. To collect data, two methods will be used. The first method is a statistical analysis of the regression and correlation between the profit margins of the companies that innovated in a destructive way and that of companies that failed to capitalize on the innovation. The next method will be a survey in which participants were at least 18 by 1980 to witness the disruption of the computer industry.

This project will study the effects that subliminal cues or subtle signals have in decision making regarding gender-neutral advertisements. The study will entail modifying advertisements slightly to target either men or women with keywords and images commonly associated with both genders. The examination of data (based on a survey), will provide evidence as to whether these cues have impacted the choices made by participants, when compared to their baseline.

This research project delves into the causes of the lack of access to reproductive health care in California. The goal is to determine the most effective ways to dissolve the barriers to ensure universal access. The preliminary stages involved conducting research regarding these barriers (poverty, race, socioeconomic status, disability, location). Conducting interviews with employees at Planned Parenthood to ascertain the most effective ways to make a difference is the next stage in this project.

This research project tests whether Asymmetrical Dominance affects candidate choices. It is common in Behavioral Economics and Psychology to study how things influence behavior, however, in political science it is less common. One goal of this research is to identify whether this principal can make a difference in elections.

The gap between the writing capabilities of native English speakers and English language learners is a serious problem. This research project will implement an online service that will help ELL students with their writing. The program will be free by way of volunteers ranging from high school, parents, and teachers. After reviewing the common core standards and the JLS writing handbook, volunteers will be able to receive calls or texts from students using the site, and take a request for help.

This research project compares the satisfaction and team cohesion of girls high school and club soccer teams in the Bay Area. With the satisfaction of players and cohesiveness of teams playing a big role in overall success, it is important to research the factors and practices that can potentially affect many youth soccer teams. The goal is to first use a survey to discover certain variables that correlate to higher levels of satisfaction and team cohesion, such as age, team level, connection with teammates, coach communication, and happiness.

This research project anticipates surveying people (from ages 13-25) regarding how they personally think shooter video games has affected them in the past. An experiment will be conducted with 10 or more test subjects, where there will be psych evaluations before and after playing shooter video games for 3 hours (tentatively). Previous research and collected data will then be reviewed to confirm whether there is a connection that will lead to a conclusive thesis.