We have all heard the classic stereotype that Asian students are the smartest. There have even been multiple discussions about this subject. So I posed the question. Are Asian students smarter? For my test I used GPA as a measurement of their intelligence. So I posed the simple question for my study. Are the GPA of Asian students higher than the GPA of Caucasian students at North Olmsted High School?

Looking further into the subject I found many discussions on the internet. It was said that the answer might be due to genetics, although this claim was not highly supported. The most supported explanation was that it was simply due to the differences in culture and the way that the children are raised.

My population was all the Asian and Caucasian students at North Olmsted High School. I took a sample of each group from the population, and handed them surveys. The surveys asked what their cumulative GPAs were, and what ethnic background they hailed from. I sampled 90 Caucasian students and 40 Asian students. The sample was completely anonymous, I did not know whom the surveys I got belonged to.

            For my test I chose to do a two sample t-test since both samples were over 30 so normality could be assumed, however the population standard deviation was unknown. The results were that the P value was larger than the alpha meaning that there was enough evidence to say that the true average GPA of Asian students were higher than the Caucasian students.

There were possible variables that might have affected the results. There was a high non-response bias that is that many people did not give back the surveys. There we also some students who were chosen for the sample, but I could not get surveys out to due to them not taking classes at the High School. There was also a response bias that some people might have been attracted to placing a slightly higher GPA than their actual GPA.

The final result was that indeed Asian students have higher GPA at our high school that the Caucasian students. However, I would argue that this does still not answer the question if Asians are actually smarter than everyone else. That is because GPA is a measurement of how well a students does in school, and one might argue that is not a measurement of intelligence. Although as far as GPA goes in NOHS Asians have the higher GPA. This might not hold true in other schools or states.

The question that I have raised, and intent to solve in this project is a very common stereotype that we all have heard at least once in the past. The question is if Asian Students are actually smarter and more academic than Caucasian students. I intend to find this out by finding the cumulative GPAs of both Asian and Caucasian students at North Olmsted High School.

            My question is, Are the GPAs of Asian students higher than the GPAs of Caucasian Students at North Olmsted High School?