Fun

For the biologist who doubts an old hypothesis or wishes to test out a new one, there is the biological laboratory. There, under conditions over which he can exercise the most rigid control, he can vary the light, the air, the food, which his plants or his animals receive, from the moment of birth throughout their lifetime. Keeping all the conditions but one constant, he can make accurate measurement of the effect of the one. This is the ideal method of science, the method of the controlled experiment, through which all hypotheses may be submitted to a strict objective test. ... Unfortunately such methods of experiment are denied to us when our materials are humanity and the whole fabric of a social order. This is a quote from American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978) from the introduction to the 1973 edition of her 1929 book "Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilization".

A song for teaching concepts about regression and correlation written by Alan Reifman, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Texas Tech University. The lyrics may be sung to the tune of Tommy James and Bod King's 1971 song "Draggin' the Line." Musical accompaniment realization and vocals are by Joshua Lintz from University of Texas at El Paso.

To us, probability is the very guide of life is the modern translation of a quote from Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 B.C.E. - 43 B.C.E.) found in his 45 B.C.E. work "De Natura Deorum".

A cartoon to teach about the need for statistical techniques in drawing out the salient features in massive data sets. Cartoon by John Landers (www.landers.co.uk) based on an idea from Dennis Pearl (The Ohio State University). Free to use in the classroom and on course web sites.