While nothing is more uncertain than the duration of a single life, nothing is more certain than the average duration of a thousand lives. A quote of American actuary and abolitionist Elizur Wright (1804 - 1885).
The purpose of models is not to fit the data but to sharpen the questions. A quote of applied probabilist Samuel Karlin (1924 - 2007) from his Fisher memorial lecture April, 1983. The quote is found in "Statistically Speaking: a Dictionary of Quotations" compiled by Carl Gaither and Alma Cavazos-Gaither.
It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young. A quote of Austrian animal behaviorist Konrad Lorenz (1903 - 1989) in "On Aggression", (English translation: 1966, Harvest books) p. 12. Quote also found in "Statistically Speaking - a Dictionary of Quotations" compiled by Carl Gaither and Alma Cavazos-Gaither p. 119.
During this simulation activity, students generate sampling distributions of the sample mean for n = 5 and n = 50 with Fathom 2 and use these distributions to confirm the Central Limit Theorem. Students sample from a large population of randomly selected pennies. Given that the variable of interest is the age of the pennies, which has a geometric distribution, this is a particularly convincing demonstration of the Central Limit Theorem in action. This activity includes detailed instructions on how to use Fathom to generate sampling distributions. The author will provide the Fathom data file upon request.
Song invokes tradeoffs and pitfalls of there being (at least) two kinds of average: mean and median. May be sung to tune of "Love and Marriage" (Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen). Musical accompaniment realization and vocals are by Joshua Lintz from University of Texas at El Paso.
Joke of unknown authorship quoted in H.H. Friedman, L.W. Friedman, and T. Amoo, "Using Humor in the Introductory Statistics Course," "Journal of Statistics Education" volume 10, #3 (2002)
The song summarizes the controversy about statistically adjusting the United States decennial census for undercount. May be sung to the tune of "Annie's Song" (John Denver). Appeared in Autumn 2001 "Teaching Statistics" and Winter 2002 "STATS". Recorded June 26, 2009 at the OSU Whisper Room: Larry Lesser, vocals/guitar; Justin Slauson, engineer.
Song describes conditions for using the t distribution and mentions its inventor William Gosset (and his pseudonym, Student). May be sung to the tune of "Let it Be" (McCartney/Beatles). Musical accompaniment realization and vocals are by Joshua Lintz from University of Texas at El Paso.
Statistician's "breakup" song is filled with 2 dozen puns from a variety of (mostly first-year) statistical terms. Song is a 12-bar blues, with the words in parentheses more spoken than sung during the final 2 bars of each 12. Appeared in Winter 2002 "STATS" and Spring 2004 "The Pi".
Song of a student forging a commitment to learn major concepts and tools of mathematical probability. May be sung to the tune of "Mr. Tambourine Man" (Bob Dylan).
