Creating data to explain statistical concepts: Seeing is believing

Students from many disciplines take statistics as part of their degree requirement. Some of these students lack the mathematical background to follow theoretical proofs and/or the expertise to conceptualize abstract concepts. Concrete examples may provide the best means to aid these students in grasping statistical principles. This paper highlights the use of computers to create, analyze, and present data that models a wide range of statistical concepts. An illustration of the technique is presented for explaining the Central Limit Theorem, Type I error rates, and a host of other statistical concepts.