Resource Library

This java applet provides students with opportunities to visualize the Monty Hall paradox (i.e., the famous "three-door" problem often discussed in introductory statistics courses). By going through the simulation and reading the accompanying materials, students can better understand concepts related to probability, and they can also see the need to gather data in order to test theories about what might happen under particular conditions (especially since the outcome of the Monty Hall problem tends to contradict students' initial intuitions).

This applet is designed to allow users to explore the relationship between histograms and the most typical summary statistics. The user can choose from several types of histograms (uniform, normal, symmetric, skewed, etc.), or can create their own by manipulating the bars of the histogram. The statistics available for display are mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, and interquartile range. Also available is a "Practice Guessing" option, in which the values of the statistics are hidden until the user has entered guesses for each value.

... if the difference isn't different enough to make a difference, what's the difference? is a quote by American agricultural statistician Victor Chew (1923 - ). The quote is found in his 1980 paper "Testing differences among means: correct interpretation and some alternatives" ("HortScience" pages 467-470). The quote can be used in discussions of practical significance versus statistical significance.

Science walks forward on two feet, namely theory and experiment ... Sometimes it is one foot that is put forward first, sometimes the other, but continuous progress is only made by the use of both -- by theorizing and then testing, or by finding new relations in the process of experimenting and then bringing the theoretical foot up and pushing it on beyond, and so on in unending alterations. is a quote by American physicist Robert Andrews Millikan (1868 - 1953). The quote comes from Dr. Milikan's May 23, 1924 Nobel lecture.

February 9, 2010 T&L webinar presented by Hollylynne Lee (North Carolina State University) and Todd Lee (Elon University), and hosted by Jackie Miller (The Ohio State University). A model for probabilistic reasoning will be discussed that may support students' statistical reasoning. The development of the model and instructional implications are based on theoretical considerations and empirical results from work with middle grades students. Significant time for discussion is planned to get reactions to the model as well as to discuss aspects of probability that participants believe are foundational to building statistical literacy or reasoning.

I can prove anything by statistics except the truth is a quote by British politician George Canning (1770 - 1827). The quote is found on page 587 of the 1908 book "Dictionary of Thoughts" edited by Tryon Edwards. The quote may be used to illustrate the idea that statistical inference is often geared toward demonstrating what is unlikely to be true rather than proving what is true.

Statistics are to baseball what a flaky crust is to Mom's apple pie. is a quote by American television journalist Harry Reasoner (1923 - 1991). The quote was said in a story on the news magazine show, "60 minutes."

The true logic of this world is the calculus of probabilities. This is a quote of Scottish physicist and mathematician James Clerk Maxwell (1831 - 1879). The quote is found on page 197 in volume 1 of "The Scientific Letters and Papers of James Clerk Maxwell, (James Clerk Maxwell and Peter Michael Harman, ed.)".

In earlier times they had no statistics and so they had to fall back on lies. This is a quote by Canadian economist Stephen Leacock (1869 - 1944). The quote is found on page 265 of his 1938 book "In Model Memoirs and Other Sketches from Simple to Serious"

This joke can be used in a discussion of how sample size affects the reliability of the sample mean. The joke may be found amongst the extensive Science Jokes resources at www.newyorkscienceteacher.com