Resource Library

"Failing the possibility of measuring that which you desire, the lust for measurement may, for example, merely result in your measuring something else - and perhaps forgetting the difference - or in your ignoring some things because they cannot be measured." A quote by British statistician George Udny Yule that can be used in discussing the validity of measurements. The quote is contained on the last page of his famous 1921 British Journal of Psychology paper "The essentials of mental measurement." The quote is commonly paraphrased as "In our lust for measurement, we frequently measure that which we can rather than that which we wish to measure... and forget that there is a difference."

A cartoon for teaching about using the t-distribution for inference when the standard deviation is unknown. The cartoon was created by Karen Banks from University of Indiana using the software at www.bitstrips.com. The cartoon also won a prize in the CAUSE 2013 A-Mu-sing contest.

A song that might be used in pre-service courses for statistics teachers (or professional development workshops) to point out why using technology is preferred to training students to use Normal Probability Tables. The lyrics were composed by Robert Carver of Stonehill College. May be sung to the tune of the "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" written by Schoenberg and Kretmer for the play Les Miserables. The lyrics won an honorable mention in the CAUSE 2013 A-Mu-sing contest. Musical accompaniment realization and vocals are by Joshua Lintz from University of Texas at El Paso.

A song that reviews several statistical topics written by University of Texas at El Paso professor Lawrence M. Lesser. The song is a parody of "We Are the Champions" written by Freddy Mercury that was popularized by the British rock group Queen in their 1977 Album "ewe of the World."

A poem to teach about various types of variables (categorical versus numerical versus summary statistics) and differentiating them from other concepts like the outcomes in the sample space or the sample size. The poem was composed by Lawrence Mark Lesser of The University of Texas at El Paso.

If the experiments be quite simple the question may be without great importance; but when their requirements as to time or expenditure come into account the problem arises, how the observations should be chosen in order that a limited number of them may give the maximum amount of knowledge. is a quote by Danish Statistician Kirstine Smith (1878 - 1939). The quote appears in the introduction to her 1918 article on optimal experimental design in the journal Biometrika (the first such article in the literature).

I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians is a quote from American economist Hal R. Varian (1947 -) quoted in an August 5, 2009 "New York Times" article "For Today's Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics," written by reporter Steve Lohr. The article may be found online at www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/technology/06stats.html

This is short clip from a longer documentary shown on BBC. The BBC documentary takes viewers on a rollercoaster ride through the wonderful world of statistics to explore the remarkable power thay have to change our understanding of the world, presented by superstar boffin Professor Hans Rosling, whose eye-opening, mind-expanding and funny online lectures have made him an international internet legend. Rosling is a man who revels in the glorious nerdiness of statistics, and here he entertainingly explores their history, how they work mathematically and how they can be used in today's computer age to see the world as it really is, not just as we imagine it to be. Rosling's lectures use huge quantities of public data to reveal the story of the world's past, present and future development. Now he tells the story of the world in 200 countries over 200 years using 120,000 numbers - in just four minutes.

December 14, 2010 T&L webinar presented by Dianna Spence & Brad Bailey (North Georgia College & State University) and hosted by Jackie Miller (The Ohio State University). When instructors have their students implement "real-world" projects in statistics, a number of questions arise: Where can students locate real data to analyze? What kinds of meaningful research questions can we help students to formulate? What aspects of statistical research can be covered in a project? What are reasonable methods for evaluating the student's work? The presenters will share resources developed during an NSF-funded study to develop and test curriculum materials for student projects in statistics, using linear regression and t-test scenarios.

Hot streaks are a statistical illusion! This is a quote from the cartoon character Lisa Simpson created by cartoonist Matt Groening (1954 - ) in 1987. The quote occurs in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "MoneyBART" that originally aired on October 10, 2010. This episode was written by Tim Long (1969 - ).