Resource Library

This online application allows the user to import data from online resources such as Facebook, Google Analytics, GitHub, as well as spreadsheets on their own computers. They can then drag-and-drop variables to make graphs automatically. The basic version is free, but you can upgrade to a paid version which allows combining data across services and, if the data come from an online resource, the user has the choice to have Data Hub keep the graphs updated as the data changes.

The Census Bureau has made many data visualizations of the data it collects. It is a good collections of maps, treemaps, an age/sex pyramid, and of course more familiar graphs, like bar graphs.

This site did a lot of data visualization on many hot button topics. They provide the raw data that they used to create their graphs at this page. These data sets are kept in Google Doc spreadsheets.

A cartoon to be used in discussing density functions, scatterplots, and correlation. The plot is humorously labeled a density function – but is more readily interpreted as a scatterplot (in class discussions try to pin down how to interpret x and y). As a scatterplot, it shows a fairly clear (non-linear) association between x and y but would have a correlation of essentially zero. The cartoon is #1438 in the web comic Piled Higher and Deeper by Panamanian cartoonist Jorge Cham (1976- ): see www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1438. Free for use in classrooms and course websites with acknowledgement (i.e. "Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham, www.phdcomics.com)

A cartoon to be used in discussing correlation, spurious versus causal relationships, and the meaning of residuals (humorously depicting a relationship between residual over historical enrollment levels in grad school and residual levels in the unemployment rate). The cartoon is #1078 in the web comic Piled Higher and Deeper by Panamanian cartoonist Jorge Cham (1976- ): see www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1078. Free for use in classrooms and course websites with acknowledgement (i.e. "Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham, www.phdcomics.com)

A cartoon to be used in discussing the least squares property of the regression line and the lexical ambiguity in the use of the word regression. The cartoon is #1921 in the web comic Piled Higher and Deeper by Panamanian cartoonist Jorge Cham (1976- ): see www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1921. Free for use in classrooms and course websites with acknowledgement (i.e. "Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham, www.phdcomics.com)

A cartoon to be used in discussing the interpretation of a regression equation (for example interpreting the intercept when it is well beyond the range of the data). The cartoon is #1823 in the web comic Piled Higher and Deeper by Panamanian cartoonist Jorge Cham (1976- ): see www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1823. Free for use in classrooms and course websites with acknowledgement (i.e. "Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham, www.phdcomics.com)

A quote to initiate a discussion of the fact that correlation does not imply a causal relationship (especially spurious correlations that happen by coincidence). The quote is by American novelist and poet Siri Hustvedt (1955 - ) from her 2011 novel The Summer Without Men.

The textbook, "Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data," by Lock, Lock, Lock, Lock, and Lock, webpage has a collection of data sets which are used in their textbook. Even without the textbook, the variables are well named, and it is relatively easy to tell what the variables represent.

This webpage provides an active learning lesson for linear regression. Resources include an in-class student activity sheet for two different levels of classes (Algebra I and Junior), a PowerPoint showing faces of famous people, and sheet with updated (to the end of current year) actual ages of the celebrities.