Clasping Hands and Folding Arms: A Data Investigation

This is the first of a series on data investigations in which the cycle of issues, planning, collecting, exploring, interpreting and discussing is reported for selected data investigations, with the data sets available on the Blackwell repository. The motivating issues for the investigation of this report were the manner in which people clasp their hands and fold their arms. The data set yields some interesting aspects for students, for teaching and for future or further investigations, and illustrates the needs for systematic and thoughtful exploration of data.