Dawson (1995) described a dataset giving population at risk and fatalities for an unusual mortality episode (the sinking of the ocean liner Titanic), and discussed experiences in using the dataset in an introductory statistics course. In this paper the same dataset is analyzed from the point of view of the second statistics course. A combination of exploratory analysis using tables of observed survival percentages, model building using logistic regression, and careful thought allows the statistician (and student) to get to the essence of the random process described by the data. The well-known nature of the episode gives the students a chance at determining its character, and the data are complex enough to require sophisticated modeling methods to get at the truth.
The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education