Resource Library

This worksheet activity teaches random sampling and theoretical probabilities by simulating the effects of randomly assigning newborn babies to their mothers. Students will perform trials and keep track of results, then use the information to deduce properties of random sampling. The relation website is an applet that simulates the process automatically.

This is a collection of activities as Java applets that can be used to explore probability and statistics. Each activity is supplemented with background information, activity instructions, and a curriculum for the activity.

This site provides numerous datasets for graphical display topics including linear, exponential, logistic, power rule, periodic, and other bivariate scatterplots, histograms, and other univariate data. Each data set is accompanied with a description, file format options, and a sample graph.

This is a virtual spinner applet, which allows you to change spinner regions and the number of spins. It records the results and displays the data in a histogram.

This Flash applet provides an introduction to simple linear regression for introductory statistics students. It combines a brief narrated animation with an interactive scatterplot function. Students are able to place points on the scatterplot by clicking with a mouse or typing X-Y coordinates. Students use these points to learn about the best fit line by placing a guess on the plot and comparing it with the least squares line. Students also learn about the value of the correlation coefficent and points that would be considered outliers. Students may also specify a value of x (within the range of the data) and obtain the resulting predicted value.

Using a parameter it's possible to represent a property of an entire population with a single number instead of millions of individual data points. There are a number of possible parameters to choose from such as the median, mode, or interquartile range. Each is calculated in a different manner and illuminates the data from a different point of view. The mean is one of the most useful and widely used and helps us understand populations. A population is simulated by generating 10,000 floating point random numbers between 0 and 10. Sample means are displayed in histograms and analyzed.

This page shows how elements of a systems can be eliminated as causes in problem troubleshooting. The principles of twenty questions are frequently used in the business world to conduct computerized searches of massive data bases. These are called a binary searches and are one of the fastest search methods available. To conduct binary searches, data must be sorted in order or alphabetized. The computer determines which half of the list contains the item. The half containing the item is divided in half again and the process repeated until the item is found or the list can no longer be divided. Problem solvers should avoid focusing on the cause and instead ask which elements of the system can be eliminated as causes.

This page explores Benford's law and the Pareto Principle (or 80/20 rule). Benford's law may also have a wider meaning if the digits it evaluates are considered ranks or places. The digit's probability of occurring could be considered the relative share of total winnings for each place (1st through 9th). In other words, 1st place would win 30.1%, 2nd place 17.6%, 3rd 12.5%,... 9th place 4.6% of the available rewards. The normalized Benford curve could be used as a model for ranked data such as the wealth of individuals in a country. To determine if the Benford model gives results similar to those of the Pareto principle we use the normalized Benford equation in a computer program.

Users can select from detailed tables and geographical comparison tables to generate data from the 2000 Census.

This text document lists detailed learning objectives for introductory statistics courses. Learning objectives are brief, clear statements of what learners will be able to perform at the end of a course. These objectives were developed for a one semester general education introductory statistics course. The objectives cover the broad categories of Graphics, Summary Statistics, The Normal Distribution, Correlation and Scatterplots, Introduction to Regression, Two way Tables, Data Collection and Surveys, Basic Probability, Sampling Distributions, Confidence Intervals, Tests of Hypothesis, and T-distributions.