Skip to main content

Assignment 9: Reproducible Report

Purpose

This assignment expands a project finding into a short reproducible Quarto report. The report should regenerate a table and figure from code, cite the data source, state limitations, and prepare the work for M3 Project Update review. Write the main report for a non-technical decision-maker audience; technical detail such as code choices and sensitivity notes belongs in a technical appendix.

Learning Objectives

  • Write a Quarto report that combines narrative, code, tables, figures, and citations.
  • Generate at least one table and one figure from code.
  • Use BibTeX citations and a visible source note.
  • Include limitations and a grounding audit for claims.
  • Prepare a preview or publishing check suitable for M3 review.

Inputs

  • Week 10 page: weeks/week10-reporting-publishing/index.qmd
  • Report template in your personal workspace: assignments/assignment09-reporting/report-template.qmd
  • Citations how-to: Week 10 citations and grounding page — start here if you have not used references.bib before
  • Bibliography starter in your personal workspace: assignments/assignment09-reporting/references.bib
  • M3 connection: milestones/m3-project-update/README.md
  • Publishing checklist template: assignments/assignment09-reporting/publishing-checklist-template.md
  • Grounding audit template: assignments/assignment09-reporting/grounding-audit-template.md

Tasks

  1. Create or use the folder assignments/assignment09-reporting/submission/.
  2. Copy report-template.qmd and references.bib from assignments/assignment09-reporting/ into its submission/ folder. Rename the report copy report.qmd, then edit the copies rather than the starters.
  3. Define one descriptive project question. If your project dataset is not ready, use the NHANES classroom dataset and explain that this is a practice report.
  4. Load the data with a relative path.
  5. Generate at least one table and one figure from code.
  6. Add citations using a local references.bib file or the course bibliography workflow.
  7. Write a limitations section that avoids causal overclaiming.
  8. Complete a grounding audit: each claim should point to code output, a citation, or a stated limitation.
  9. Complete a publishing check: GitHub Pages preview if available, or a private rendered HTML preview in the repository.
  10. Write an M3 update note explaining what is ready for peer review and what feedback would be useful.
  11. Before committing, search your submission files for absolute or local paths (for example C:/ or /Users/) and replace any you find with relative paths.

AI-Use Expectations

AI may help outline the report, debug Quarto, improve wording, or identify unclear claims. You must verify every generated number, citation, and source claim against the rendered output and bibliography. Include ai-use-note.md.

Reproducibility Requirements

  • report.qmd must render in GitHub Codespaces.
  • Tables and figures must be generated by code.
  • Paths must be relative.
  • Bibliography entries must resolve.
  • Publishing preview must not require private local files.
  • The report must complement the dashboard-style product rather than merely duplicate it.

What To Submit

Place all submission files in:

assignments/assignment09-reporting/submission/

Submit these files:

  • report.qmd: rerunnable Quarto report.
  • report.html: rendered report committed with its required source.
  • references.bib: bibliography entries used by the report.
  • outputs/: generated table or figure files if the report writes external outputs.
  • publishing-checklist.md: GitHub Pages or private preview check.
  • grounding-audit.md: claim-by-claim check against code output, citation, or limitation.
  • m3-update-note.md: what is ready for M3 review and what feedback is requested. At minimum, name one part of the report that is ready for review and ask one or two specific feedback questions — for example, “Is the cohort definition clear?” or “Does the limitations section cover the missing-data issue?” The Week 10 A9/M3 page lists more example questions.
  • ai-use-note.md: what AI helped with and how you checked it, or a sentence saying AI was not used.

Submission Route

Submit your GitHub repository link on Canvas after committing and syncing the required files.

Grading Checklist

Canvas applies a 7-point rubric. This assignment is part of the best-4-of-6 set for Assignments 4-9:

Criterion Points
Report renders in Codespaces with relative paths 1
Includes one code-generated table and one code-generated figure 1.25
Citations resolve through BibTeX workflow 1
Limitations are accurate and visible 1
Grounding audit checks key claims against evidence 1
Publishing checklist and M3 update note are complete 1
AI-use note and required files are committed and synced 0.75

The Task 3 fallback is fully acceptable for grading: a practice report built on the NHANES classroom dataset is marked with this same rubric, as long as the report states that it is a practice report.

Definition of Done

You are done when report.qmd renders to report.html, citations resolve, outputs are generated by code, and the M3 update note tells reviewers exactly what feedback you need.